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HISTORICAL    SKETCH 

or    THE 

UNION    LEAGUE  CLUB 

or 

NEW    YORK 

ITS  ORIGIN,  ORGANIZATION,  AND    WORK 

1863- 1879 

HENRY    W.    BELLOWS 


AT   THE   REQUEST   OF 
THE  COMMITTEE  ON  LIBRARY  AND  PUBLICATIONS 
J  FOR   1879 

';;■ 

l(  {FfT  PrivaU  DittrituHtn) 


CLUB    HOUSE 

MADISON    AVENtTK   AND   s6TR  STRUT 

NEW  TORK 

1879 


^'V 


6     «• 


Prtut/ 
G.  P.  Putnam't  S»tu 


i.ta^^\m,-  itn  rtrmmimmma^mmft^am 


f4S 


Memoriam  qiufquf  ipsam  cum  voce  perdidissemms,  st  tarn 
in  ncstra  poUstatt  esset  oblivisci,  qtiam  tactrt. — TACITUS. 


CONTENTS, 


Prefatory i 

I.  Origin  of  the  Club, S 

II.  Organization  of  the  Club,  .  ■    3» 

III.  Work  of  the  Club  During  the  War,  53 

IV.  Work     in    Promoting    State     and     Mun'cipal  . 

•   Legislative  Reform, 85 

V.  Further  Work  in   State,   Municipal,  and   Na- 
tional Reform,         ...  104 

VI.  The    New    York    Ring    and    other     Political 

Corruptions, 126 

Appendix 163 

Articles  op  Association,      .....      165 

Charter,     .......  166 

By-Laws,  (Original).  ...  .  .  .168 

Frksidents,  ......  174 

Honorary  MtMRiKs,  ......      175 

Address  OP  Hon.  John  J av,  (Extractt),    .  17(1 

Ni:w  York  at  BBoiNNmn  op  the  War,  .176 

Cau.'iei  for  Formation  of  Club,  ,  ,  ,  177 

CLvn  House  Inauouration,  .  .in 

Lrttkri  "  ".,...  180 

Coreespondknci  with  Oov.  Skymoue,  .  .183 

Address  to  Colored  Troops,     .  .  .  .  187 

Presentation  op  Flags  by  Laoibs,  .187 

Ladies  Roll  op  Honor,  .....  188 

Thanksoivino  Dinnee  to  Soloieei  and  Haiu>««,   .  189 

COMMITTEtt,  "  .  ,  190 

Civil  Service  Reform,  .191 

Resolutions,  Republican  Principle!.    ...  191 

Services  of  Club  not  op  Record,    .  -193 

Club  Houni,        ......  19s 


ERRATA. 


On  the  tenth  page  of  the  hody  of  this  history,  Mr.  Olmsted  is  improperly 
said  to  be  "  the  originator  of  the  Central  Park."  This  is  a  mistake  which 
the  writer  shared  with  many  others.  Mr.  Olmsted,  with  his  partner,  Mr. 
Calvert  Vaux,  who  has  an  equal  claim  to  this  distinction,  was  only  one  of 
the  designers  and  executors  of  the  plan  adopted  for  the  Park.  The  present 
design  was  made  and  executed  by  the  firm  of  "Olmsted  &  Vaux,"  and  they 
merit  equal  praise  for  it.  The  iden  of  the  Park  is  said  to  be  due  to  Mr. 
A.  J.  Downing,  the  pioneer  of  landscape  gardening  in  America,  whose 
lamented  death  in  1851,  in  the  accident  which  befcl  the  Ilcnry  Clay,  de- 
prived the  country  of  one  of  lla  most  accompliiihcd  Itltcna.  What  credit 
belongs  to  the  city  government  of  that  day,  we  are  unable  to  «ny,  but  prob- 
ably not  a  little,  in  adopting  and  maturing  Mr.  Downing'*  auggeslion. 
Having  gone  over  the  rough  ground  of  the  Park,  before  a  spa  le  h.d  been 
put  into  it  or  a  rock  blasted,  vlth  Mr.  Olmsted  himself,  and  ^^te  led  to  his 
scheme  for  redeeming  the  ground  to  the  uses  of  a  park,  the  «  iter  may  be 
pardoned  for  having  permanently  associated  him  with  its  authorship. 

He  did  not  leam  the  real  facts,  and  then  from  a  source  of  perfect  authority, 
nntU  the  Sketch  was  in  print.  He  has  deemed  it  due  to  all  concerned,  as 
well  as  to  himself  and  the  credit  of  the  Sketch  for  perfect  accuracy  of  in- 
tention, amid  many  possible  errors  or  defects  of  information,  to  append  this 
correction  :  Mr.  Olmsted  never  claimed,  it  seems,  to  be  sole  designer,  much 
less  originator,  of  the  Central  Park.  That  has  however  been  claimed  for 
him  by  friends  who  did  not  know,  or  who,  like  the  writer,  forgot  the  claimi 
of  Mr.  Vaux  and  Mr.  Downing.  The  error,  we  hope  by  this  note,  lo  do 
something  to  finally  correct. 

Another  important  verbal  error,  still  left  in  the  text,  is  the  misprint  on  the 
twelfth  page  of  a/wz-bearers  which  should  read  onnj-bearers. 

The  name  of  Carl  Schun,  on  the  one  hundred  and  thirty-sixth  page  should 
be  spelled  without  the  t.  And  on  the  one  hundred  and  forty-sUlh  page, 
neat  the  bottom,  E.  R.  PeartUe,  should  read,  E.  "X.  Petultt. 


PREFATORY. 


THE  Union  League  Club  was  organized  Febru- 
ary  6,  1863,  and  incorporated  February  16,  1865. 
With  so  recent  a  date  there  can  be  nothing  obscure  in 
its  origin  or  history,  and  little  that  has  passed  away  from 
the  memory  of  its  older  members,  and,  therefore,  no  im- 
perative reasons  for  writing  its  history.  Yet,  the  fifteen 
years  of  its  life  have  been  peculiarly  eventful,  even  in 
the  ever  crowded  life  of  America ;  and  sometimes  the 
hurry  and  press  of  affairs  obliterate  the  traces  of  things 
interesting  and  important,  almost  as  effectually  as  the 
tread  of  numerous  years.  It  is  already  observable,  that 
the  Civil  War,  so  recent  for  the  old,  is  remote  for  the 
young,  and  that  those  who  now  have  active  charge  of 
affairs,  were,  many  of  them,  too  young  when  it  closed 
to  have  any  vital  sense  of  what  it  was  to  live  in  such 
times.  And,  strange  as  it  may  be,  there  are  doubtless 
some  hundreds  of  our  own  members,  who  are  only  im- 
perfectly, if  at  all,  acquainted  with  the  origin  and  the 
heroic  years  of  the  Union  League  Club.  For  their 
benefit  then,  as  well  as  in  aid  of  the  labors  of  future 


*  PKEFA  rOK  Y. 

annalists  of  the  Club's  history,  we  propose  to  make  a 
comprehensive  sketch  of  its  life  from  the  earliest  germ 
to  its  present  development.  In  doing  this  we  have  been 
able  to  consult  the  memory  of  its  living  founders,  to 
read  its  minutes  and  all  the  printed  documents  it  has 
Igauid,  and  specially  the  complete  scries  of  the  annual 
reports  of  its  Executive  and  other  Committees.  In 
nothing  except  what  concerns  the  pre-natal  life  of  the 
Club,  have  we  any  hope  of  adding  to  the  history  of  the 
Union  League  Club  what  is  not  already  embodied 
in  the  excellent  and  exhaustive  papers  of  its  successive 
Annual  Reports.  They  are,  we  may  here  say,  exceed- 
ingly valuable  in  themselves,  very  congruous  in  their 
spirit,  and  continuous  in  the  direction  originally  taken 
by  the  Club.  Indeed,  the  library  of  the  Club  contains 
in  two  volumes  of  these  collected  Reports  pretty  much 
everything  that  needs  to  be  remembered,  excepting 
what  pertains  to  the  Club  before  it  had  any  formal 
organization  or  minutes,  or  even  a  name.  That  part 
of  its  history  we  shall  supply.  And  with  that  we  must 
begin,  craving  the  patience  of  those  who  may  think  it 
less  important  than  we  do. 

The  historj  of  the  Union  League  Club  ci^nnot  be 
written  from  the  beginning  without  first  recalling  the 
existence  and  history  of  an  earlier  association,  not  yet 
wholly  forgotten— the  United  States  Sanitary  Commis- 
sion. This  Commission  dates  from  June,  1861,  and  was 
in  the  most  active  period  of  its  life  when  the  Union 
League  Club  was  born.  The  men  who  conceived,  or- 
ganized and  controlled  the  United  States  Sanitary  Com- 


PREFATORY. 


mission,  and  continued  to  administer  it  not  only  through 
the  war  but  for  ten  years  after,  in  various  forms  of 
costly  service  bequeathed  as  consequences  of  the  war — 
were  also  the  originators  of  the  Union  League  Club 
and  we  proceed  to  state  how  this  came  about,  and  to 
eitabliih  the  fact  by  documentary  evidence. 


ORIGIN  OF  THE  CLUB, 

The  Union  League  Ci.ub  of  New  York  is  the  child 
of  the  United  States  Sanitary  Commissior..  That  body 
was  i-epreser'ed,  when  not  in  session,  by  an  Executive 
Committee,  all  residents  of  New  York  Ciiy,  consisting 
up  to  the  date  of  the  origin  of  the  Union  League 
of  five  persons  only, — its  President,  Dr.  Bellows;  its 
Treasurer,  George  T.  Strong ;  Prof.  Wolcott  Gibbs,  Dr. 
Cornelius  R.  Agnew,  and  Dr.  William  H.  Van  Buren. 
These'men  were  compelled  during  the  war  to  pass  some 
part  cf  each  day  or  night  in  conference  with  each  other 
upon  the  urgent  and  anxious  business  that  engaged 
them.  Frederick  Law  Olmsted,  the  first  Secretary  of 
the  Sanitary  Commission,  was  the  only  other  person 
who  fully  shared  their  car  3  ind  consultations.  The 
affairs  of  the  Sanitary  Commission  required  a  close 
study  of  the  state  of  public  sentiment,  and  the  rela- 
tions it  bore  to  the  Government  gave  its  Executive 
Committee  peculiar  opportunities  of  information.  Its 
own  movements  were  embarrassed  by  the  jealousy  of 
States  toward  each  other,  and  towards  the  National 
s 


6  TliE  UNION  LEAGUE  CLUB. 

Government.  Th.*  success  of  its  plans  depended  upon 
the  obliteration  of  these  local  prejudices.  The  Nation 
as  super-eminent  above  the  States,  was,  from  the 
origin,  the  animating  idta  at  the  rooc  of  all  the  plans 
and  aims  of  the  Sanitary  Commission.  The  invited 
and  organized  cooperation  of  the  mv'n  and  women 
of  all  the  States  pot  in  rebellion,  in  an  impart'al 
ministry  to  the  soldicis  of  the  Natiun,  wl'houl  re- 
gard to  the  Spates  from  which  ihey  came,  *'a8  felt 
by  its  originators  and  conductors  to  be  a  subtile, 
yet  mighty  bond  of  union  and  nationality,  which,  if 
accomplished,  would  surpass  in  service  to  the  country 
the  more  obvious  benefits  derived  from  a  humane 
ministry  to   the   wants  and  sufferings  of  our  armies. 

The  Sanitary  Commission  was  not  from  its  incep- 
tion a  merely  humanitarian  or  beneficent  association. 
It  necessarily  took  on  that  appearance,  and  its  life 
depended  upon  its  effective  work  as  an  almoner  of 
the  homes  of  the  land  to  fathers,  brothers  and  sons 
In  the  field.  But  its  projectors  were  men  with 
strong  political  purpose,  induced  to  take  this  means 
of  giving  expression  to  their  solicitude  for  the  na- 
tional life,  by  discovering  that  the  people  of  the 
country  had  a  very  much  higher  sense  of  the  value 
of  the  Union,  and,  above  all,  of  the  value  of  a 
great  common  national  life,  than  most  of  the  poli- 
ticians of  the  States  or  the  United  States  Govern- 
ment seemed  to  recognize ;  that  the  women  of  Amer- 
ica had  at  least  half  of  its  patriotism  in  their 
keeping,    and    that    a    great    scheme   of    practical   ser- 


THE  i  KION  LEAGUE  CLUB.  7 

vice,  which  united  men  and  women,  cities  and  vil- 
lages, distant  States  and  Territories,  in  one  protract- 
ed, systematic,  laborious  and  costly  work — a  work 
of  an  it.. personal  character — aninia'.eil  by  love  for 
the  national  cause,  the  national  soldier,  and  not 
merely  'oy  personal  afTectioti  or  solicitude  for  their 
own  particular  flesh  and  blood,  would  develop,  purify 
and  stre.igther.  the  imperilled  sentiment  of  national- 
ity, and  help  to  make  America  sacred  in  the  cyet 
of  the   living   children   of    her  scattered   States. 

The  members  of  the  Sanitary  Commission  were  ab- 
sorbed in  this  conviction,  and  under  great  opposition 
and  immense  difficulties,  they  adhered  to  it  and  con- 
quered by  it.  They  would  yield  nothing  to  the  intense 
feeling  of  State  and  local  pride  or  anxiety  which 
sought  to  create  differences  in  the  administration  of 
their  resources.  Their  plan,  with  all  its  methods, 
was  intensely  national.  Perhaps  no  persons  out  of 
the  national  Government  had  their  full  experience 
of  the  evils  and  perils  of  State  jealousies  and  local 
feeling.  Every  trial  the  national  Government  met 
in  recruiting  a  national  army  out  of  the  State  troops, 
the  Sanitary  Commission  experienced  in  struggling 
with  the  disposition  of  State  or  local  societies,  to 
give  a  special  and  not  a  national  direction  .o  their 
stores  and   means  of    succor. 

The  education  in  nationality  which  the  Commis- 
sion gained  in  the  first  year  of  the  war  gave  it 
convictions  as  to  the  importance  of  cultivating  this 
sentiment,  which  overtopped  all  others.    They  found 


8  THE  UNION  LEAGUE  CLUB. 

In  their  daily  business  a  perpetual  lesson  on  this 
theme,  and  in  each  other  almost  the  only  fully- 
aroused  sympathizers  with  the  sentiment.  The  phrase 
"  Unconditional  Loyalty,"  Mr.  Seward  said,  origin- 
ated in  the  Sanitary  Commission,  and  the  Govern- 
ment scattered  ten  thousand  copies  of  a  tract  with 
that  title  through  the  Army  of  the  Potomac  —  a 
tract  which  the  President  of  the  Commission  had 
prepared.  The  closeness  of  the  personal  tics  of  the 
Executive  Committee  can  hardly  be  understood.  They 
were  of  one  mind  and  one  heart.  Originally  select- 
ed from  a  great  number  for  their  fitness  and  will- 
ingness to  work  together  in  one  spirit  and  for  one 
end— all  having  the  truest  respect  for,  and  confi- 
dence in,  each  other — a  union  never  disturbed  to 
the  close  of  the  war,  and  of  their  work,  which 
lasted  ten  years  longer — they  were  not  only  in  daily 
converse,  but  they  poured  their  hearts  into  each 
others  bosoms,  and  made  the  great  questions  of  the 
time  subjects  of  joint  consideration  and  study,  and 
always  in  the  light  of  their  central  idea— loyalty  and 
nationality. 

This  explanation  sc-ms  necessary  to  make  the 
connection  of  the  United  States  Sanitary  Commis- 
sion  and  its  Executive  Committee  with  the  Union 
League   Club   natural    and    intelligible. 

Prof.  Wolcott  Gibbs  was  the  first  to  suggest  that 
the  idea  on  which  the  Sanitary  Commission  was 
founded  needed  to  take  on  the  form  of  a  club 
which   should    be   devoted    to   the    social    organization 


THE  UNION  LEAGUE  CLUB.  9 

of  the  sentiment  of  loyalty  to  the  Union,  and  he 
chose  M-.  Frederick  Law  Olmsted  as  the  first  person 
to  be  consulted  and  advised  with.  Prof.  Gibbs  had  a 
natural  right  among  his  co-workers  to  be  earliest  in 
the  field  vMth  a  plan  which  concerned  the  exist- 
ence of  the  Union.  His  grandfather,  Oliver  Wol- 
cott,  had  been  among  the  most  vigorous  and  ear- 
nest of  the  patriots  who  formed  the  Union  and 
guided  its  earliest  steps.  His  mother  was  known 
all  her  long  life  as  a  noble  daughter  of  a  revolu- 
tionary father,  worthy  of  the  name  she  bore,  and 
inheriting  and  transmitting  a  profound  interest  in 
the  honor  and  dignity  of  the  country — intensely 
alive  to  all  that  concerned  the  purity  of  our  poli- 
tics and  the  stablcness  of  our  institutions.  No  bet- 
ter source  could  have  been  found  for  the  Union 
League  than  the  heart  and  head  of  a  grandson  of 
Oliver  \Volcott.  It  was  an  additional  merit  that 
Prof.  Gibbs,  a  man  of  science,  and  already  perhaps 
the  most  distinguished  of  American  chemists,  was 
not  a  politician  or  a  man  of  affairs.  His  patriotism 
wa:  pure  and  simple  —  without  a  taint  of  partisan 
feeling,  of  lust  for  office  or  of  taste  for  power. 
Absorbed  in  his  engrossing  studies,  private  in  his 
tastes  and  habits,  nothing  less  than  the  great  perils 
of  his  country  could  have  taken  him  out  of  his  la- 
boratory and  made  him  for  many  years  an  earnest 
and  active  member  of .  the  Sanitary  Commission,  and 
at  length  the  corner-stone  of  the  Union  League 
Club. 


10  THE  UNION  LEAGUE  CLUB. 

Those    who   know   the    capacity,  the  thoughtfulness, 
the    statesman-like    qualities    of    Mr.    F.    L.    Olmsted, 
will   not   wonder  that    Dr.   Gibbs   found   him   readiest 
and   ripest   for  the   plans   he   had    in    view,   and    best 
able   to   suggest    the    method    by  which    it    was    to    be 
carried  out.  '  The  United  States  Sanitary  Commission 
have    always    been    proud    to   acknowledge   the   great 
part   which   Mr.   Olmsted,   the   first    Secretary  of    the 
Commission,    had    in    giving   practical    body   and    form 
to    the    enterprise.      It    is    doubtful    if    anybody   else 
could   have  carried   the   ideas  of   its   founders  out  into 
such  a  commanding  and   successful   achievement   as   it 
finally  was.      The    originator    of    our    Central    Park, 
which   will   always    be    a    splendid    monument   of    his 
genius   and  foresight,  and   the  head  of  his  profession 
at    a   time   when   the  landscape  gardening  of   our   Na- 
tional   Capitol    and    our   young  cities  offered   such   im- 
mense  opportunities    for   skill   and    taste  and   anticipa- 
tion  of   the    public   wants— Mr.  Olmsted  has,  perhaps, 
rendered  greater  public  services  with   less  reward  and 
less   appreciation    from   those  who  have   most   profited 
by   them,   than   any  citizen    of    New    York.  '^  Let    us 
then    see    in   extracts  from   two  letters   to   Pmf.  Gibbs 
from    Mr.   Olmsted,    what    he    had    suggested    to    his 
friend  and  what  Mr.  Olmsted  had  said  in   reply.     But 
first    of    Prof.   Gibbs*    letters   to    Mr.   Olmsted.     They 
were    unfortunately   destroyed    in    a    fire    which    con- 
sumed     Mr.    Olmsted's    stored    furniture    and     papers, 
during    his    absence    in    California    in     1864,       It    is 
enough   to   say    that   Prof.  Gibbs    had    conceived    the 


THE  UNION  LEAGUE  CLUB.  If 

plan  of  a  National  Club  before  October,  1862;  but, 
to  quote  his  own  language,  "  it  was  not  until 
Seymour's  election  as  Governor  of  New  York  that 
the  urgency  of  such  a  movement  was  publicly  indi- 
cated." He  at  once  consulted  Mr.  Olmsted,  asking 
his  sympathy  and  counsel,  to  which  came  the  follow- 
ing deliberate  reply,  omitting  non-essential  parts  of 
the  letter : 

LETTER    OF    MR.   OLMSTED  TO   DR.   GIBBS. 

New  York,  jViw.  5,  1862. 
My  dear  Gibbs  : 

Your  request  cannot   be  passed  by  this 
direful  day,  but  I  can  only  give  it  stolen  time. 

The  method  must  be  built  up  from  the  motive. 
/Of  your  motive,  I  judge  from  our  short  conversation, 
and  the  name  you  gave  your  suggestion — "  Loyalist's 
Club."  We  regard  ourselves  as  distinguished  from  some 
others  by  our  loyalty  to  something  to  which  they,  what- 
ever they  profess,  whatever  they  may  believe  of  them- 
selves, are  not,  in  our  estimation,  loyal.  We  desire  to 
recognize  this  distinction  as  a  ground  of  a  certain  alli- 
ance, by  which  we  may  express  our  greater  pleasure  in 
the  society  of  those  who  agree  with  us,  and  something 
more.  -^ 

To  what  are  we  loyal  and  they  not  ?  ) 

We   agreed  that  X and  Y must  be  of  the 

other  sort.     To  what  are  they  not  loyal?     Both  will 

swear  allegiance  to  the  Constitution.     Z within  a 

year  has  declared  to  me  that  slavery  must  and  should  be 
abolished  and  the  rebels  exterminated.  Supposing  him 
sincere,  I  still  could  not  suppose  him  to  be  sympathizing 
with  what  loyalty  includes  with  me.  ^I  feel  that  liberty 


12  THE  UNION  LEAGUE  CLUB. 

and   Union  is  not  all.     Neither  A-^ nor  B could 

with  sincerity  say — I  believe,  that  they  would  not  if  they 
could — have  a  privileged  class  in  our  society,  a  legal  aris- 
tocracy. Both,  I  believe,  hold  in  their  hearts  European 
views  on  this  subject.  Roth  regard  our  society  as  a  fail- 
ure because  of  the  want  of  a  legally  privileged  class. 
Both  feel  something  of  contempt  for  a  man — at  least 
they  feel  themselves  the  natural  superiors  of  a  man — who 
docs  not  feel  himself  to  belong  to  a  class  which  he  thinks 
ought  to  be  privileged.  I,  on  the  other  hand,  feel  a  cer- 
tain contempt  for,  or  a  sense  of  superiority  to,  a  man 
who  wants  any  such  legal  setting  up.  They  sympathize 
with  what  has  always  been  the  prevailing  sentiment  of 
the  aristocratic  and  cultivated  class  abroad,  and  avowedly 
of  only  a  very  vulgarf  presuming,  and  peculiarly  snobbish 
class  here.  Wc  sympathize  with  what  has  been  a  pre- 
vailing sentiment  with  the  highest  quality  of  men,  pecu- 
liarly in  our  own  country,  the  men,  too,  who  formed  our 
country,  and  gave  it  to  our  keeping.  To  their  scnlinioiit 
in  this  respect,  and  to  this  quality  given  by  them  to  our 
nationality,  we  are  loyalists,  they  are  renegades.  We  arc 
the  hereditary  r.atural  aristocracy,  they  are  parveniis  ;  we 
are  rich,  they  are  vulgar.  Your  club,  then,  would  be  a 
club  of  true  American  aristocracy,  the  legitimate  descend- 
ants and  alms-bearers  of  the  old  dukes  of  our  land ;  of 
'  our  law-g'vers,  loyalists.  Differences  of  opinion  within 
this  should  be  tolerated  ;  wc  would  only  require  that  in 
this  our  disposition  and  sense  of  personal  dignity  should 
not  be  braved  or  crossed.  We  wish  also  to  establish  the 
fact  that  there  is  an  "aristocratic  class"  in  New  York, 
which  in  this  respect  is  not  European  ;  which  shall  not 
be  felt  by  an  English  gentletnan  to  be  the  mere  ape  and 
parrot  o/  a  European  gentry.) 

To   this  end   the  foundation  should  be  very  securely 
and  cautiously  laid. 


THE  UNION  LEAGUE  CLUB.  1 3 

^  Let  US  begin  with  a  club,  clubbing  to  canvas  for  a  club. 
The  ante-club,  Agnew,  Van  Buren  and  yourself — say,  the 
tripod  of  it.  *  *  *  Now  close  the  doors,  and  let  in 
no  man  who  ha.  ..<  t  blue  blood  to  your  certain  know- 
ledge ;  no  man  who  does  not  burn  with  the  sacred  fire.  Get 
in  fifteen  to  thirty  of  this  61ite  of  the  6lite,  all  of  whom 
must,  in  the  nature  of  the  case,  be  too  much  personally 
interested  not  to  be  willing  and  able  to  help  with  serious 
deliberate  exercise  of  judgment.  Select  tl.em,  one  by 
one,  with  great  caution.  Then  classify  them, — not  by  set 
numbers,  but  according  to  their  peculiar  genius,  know- 
ledge and  habits  of  judgment — into  committees,  to  con- 
sider different  questions  of  organization.  One  of  these 
upon  the  Shibboleth,  or  test-question  of  loyalty;  another 
upon  other  conditions  desirable  to  be  required  for  mem- 
bership; another  upon  constitution  and  by-laws,  with  a 
sub-committee — or  a  subsequent — upon  plans  of  opera- 
tion, rooms,  etc. 

Of  the  first  point,  I  have  indicated  the  direction  my 
views  would  take  in  first  opening  ground.  Of  the  sec- 
ond, three  classes  should  be  regarded :  First,  men  of  sub- 
stance and  established  high  position  socially.  I  men- 
tioned Minturn  and  Brown  as  first  occurring  to  me  last 
night.  Men  of  good  stock,  or  ol  notably  high  character, 
of  legal  reputation,  would  be  desirable ;  Strong  and  Jay 

also,  men  of  established  repute  in  letters  and  science. 

And  especially  those  of  old  colonial  names  well  brought 
down.  A  large  proportion  of  this  sort  I  should  con- 
sider absolutely  essential  to  success  in  the  purpose  I  see. 
They  must  be  in  the  centre.  Second,  clever  men,  espe- 
cially of  letters,  wits  and  artists  who  have  made  their 
mark.  Third,  promising  young  men— quite  young  men, 
who  should  be  sought  for  and  drawn  in  and  nursed  and 
nourished  with  care,  but  especially  of  those  rich  young 
men  of  whom  I  see  so  many  now,  who  don't  understand 


14  THE  UfflON  LEAGUE  CLUB. 

what  their  place  can  be  in  American  society.  Gentlemen 
in  the  European  senr.e — in  a  society  which  has  no  place 
"for  men  of  leisure,"  they  are  greatly  tempted  to  go 
over  to  the  devil  (boss-devil).  The  older  and  abler  es- 
tablished men  ought  to  fraternize  with  them,  to  welcome 
and  hold  every  true  man  of  them  in  fraternity — so  soon 
they  may  govern  us  if  they  will!^ 

The  question  is,  what  shall  be  offered  each  of  these 
.  classes,  and  what  shall  be  asked  of  them  ?  As  to  the  first 
,  class,  everything  must  be  asked  ;  can  anything  be  offered 
but  the  satisfaction  of  a  patriotic  and  Christian  purpose  ? 
Thin,  with  Komc,  If  it  can  be  well  prcKcntcd,  will  u'"  » 
great  way.  Can  anything  be  added?  Of  the  second,  It 
is  only  necessary  to  ask  little.  This  is  essential.  Let  me 
mention  names :  Kapp,  who  knows  more  and  talks  better 
upon  the  vital  chords  of  American  history  than  any  man  I 

know  ;  Capt.  A ,  Col.  O ,  Capt.  C ,  Col.  D , 

all  men  who  must  live  on  their  pay,  and  who  must 
live  C3refully  and  feel  every  dollar.  If  these  repeat  the 
pass-word  they  ought  to  come  in  easily;  for,  once  in, 
they  will  be  the  best  working  members.  The  fee  should 
not  be  too  high  then.  For  the  third  class,  good  rooms 
with  something  to  do  is  alone  essential.  «  •  •  I 
should  question  if  all  that  is  necessary  could  not  be  got 
by  arrangement  with  some  hotel  or  restaurant  of  the 
better  sort.  A  Club  suite  of  rooms  opening  out  of,  or 
by  a  side  door  into  the  Maison  Dor6e,  for  instance,  at 
least  to  its  kitchen  and  some  of  its  service. 

I  have  not  considered  the  question  whether  the  Club 
should  be  actively  engaged  in  propagating  the  faith. 
From  within  the  Club  the  faith  should  be  actively  propa- 
gated outwardly,  I  think,  and  by  reason  of  the  Club,  but 
not  by  the  Club  as  a  Club,  a  sufficient  objection  being 
that  certain  members  would  be  forced  to  quit,  by  the  ex- 
pense, if  It  were  to  be,  (there  are  other  reasons). 


THE  UNION  LEAGUE  CLUJ.  1$ 

For  this  reason,  and  for  others,  it  should  be  under- 
stood that  those  who  join  the  Club  do  so  from  other  mo- 
tives than  those  which  usually  influence  gentlemen  to 
join  Clubs,  and  that  they  will  aid  its  purpose  otherwise 
than  by  their  fees  and  annual  dues.  Committees  of  cor-  / 
respondence  and  publication  should  be  provided  with  a 
special  fund  by  contributions  of  members,  not  by  assess- 
ment. (All  propagative  correspondence  and  publication 
to  be  in  the  name  of  members,  not  of  the  Club.) 

The  Club  should  be  as  a  Club  quiet,  and  as  little  -is 
possible  known  by  people  not  its  members.  So  far  as 
ktiown.  It  nhouM  be  piirclj'  In  ItH  social  qiinlity ;  absolute  . 
iccrccy  as  to  It.s  Inner  purpose  Is  perlinps  not  to  be  re- 
quired ;  but  I  should  think  it  might  be  best  that  no  mem- 
ber should  propose  or  suggest  to  any  one  else  that  he 
should  join  the  Club,  until,  after  having,  in  private,  ob- 
tained assurance  of  his  "  loyalty,"  he  had  been  proposed 
in  the  Club,  considered,  and  his  election  provisionally  as- 
sured. Such  assurance,  by  the  by,  could  be  best  obtain- 
ed negatively,  by  the  question  "  Don't  you  hate  such  and 
so?"  rather  than  "  Don't  you  love  such  and  so?"  It  is 
easier  to  profess  true  hate  than  true  love. 

These  matters  and  much  else  having  been  well  discuss- 
ed and  determined  in  your  Ante-Club.  I  should  then  set 
all  to  work  to  cautiously  and  adroitly  canvass  for  mem-  y 
bers,  not  admitting  them  to  the  Ante-Club,  and  not  or- 
ganizing the  Club  of  the  Club  till  a  sufficiently  large  list 
of  men  unanimously  regarded  as  desirable  had  been  " 
made  tolerably  surf  of,  as  ripe  enough  in.  loyal  spirit  to 
join  it  heart  and  soul  when  asked.  Then  organize  the 
Club  proper,  the  members  of  the  Ante-Club  being  its 
first  members  and  first  officers ;  bring  in  the  marked  men 
in  squads  rapidly,  but  so  that  those  of  each  may  fully 
understtind  it  and  their  part  in  it,  and  have  their  say 


1 6  THE  UlflON  LEAGUE  CLUB. 

about  those  proposed  still  to  be  added,  before  the  latter 
.     are  addressed  on  the  subject. 

Yours  very  cordially, 

Fred'k  Law  Olmsted. 
WoLCOTT  GiBBS,  Esq. 

/  This  letter  shows  how  clearly  Mr.  Olmsted  had  com- 
prehended the  purpose  in  Dr.  Gibbs'  mind,  and  how 
his  remarkable  organizing  genius  shaped  the  idea  of 
the  proposed  Club.  The  peculiar  emphasis  laid  by 
him  on  the  strictly  American  type  of  aristocracy — the 
best  of  our  own  sort — as  furnishing  the  proper  ma- 
terial for  the  new  association,  has  not  perhaps  had  its 
full  recognition  in  the  Club,  and  was  not  so  plainly 
seen  by  others  connected  with  the  movement ;  but  it 
has  always  had  its  influence,  if  not  its  distinct  ac- 
knowledgement, and  is  none  the  less  important  for 
being  only  vaguely  discerned.  Is  it  too  much  to  say 
that  Mr.  Olmsted's  letter  foreshadowed  the  policy 
afterwards  followed  in  the  organization  of  the  Club, 
and  did  for  Dr.  Gibbs'  germinal  purpose  much  the 
•ame  indispensable  work  that  Mr.  Olmsted  had  pre- 
viously done  for  the  idea  of  the  Sanitary  Commiision, 
which  originated  in  other  heads,  but  was  carried  out 
very  largely  by  his  organizing  faculty — as  rare  as  any 
It  has  fallen  to  our  lot  to  observe  in  any  American 
of  our  own  times. 

Dr.   Gibbs   replied   to    Mr.  Olmsted's  letter  at  once, 
as   the    following    note    shows    by   its    date,   only   two 


THE  UNION  LEAGUE  CLUB.  I7 

days  later,  and  we  regret  our  inability,  tor  reasons 
already  stated,  to  furnish  this  paper.  But  the  answer 
to  it  indicat^es  what  its  purpose  was. 


SECOND  LETTER  OF  MR.  OLMSTED  TO  DR.  GIBBS. 

New  York,  ^th  Nov.,  i86j. 

My  dear  Gibbs : 

I  take  your  note  with  good  appetite,  and 
readily  assimilate  the  whole.  You  both  enlarge  and  com- 
pact  the  purpose  or  motive.  All  the  more,  however,  I 
feel  it  to  be  of  the  highest  importance  for  success  that 
the  genera!  intentions  of  my  plan  of  the  process  of  weld- 
ing the  Club  should  be  adopted  from  the  start.  Almost 
everything  depends  upon  your  original  foundations.  Be 
careful  to  let  nothing  be  done  which  shall  prevent  itj 
being  easy  to  follow  a  process  of  that  kind.  The  plan 
should  be  thoroughly  considered  and  deliberately  ma- 
tured by  not  more  than  seven  representative  men  before 
any  one  gets  a  strong  set  aoout  it,  and  before  any  one 
beyond  that  seven  (?)  gets  any  claim  "in  courtesy  or  policy 
to  have  any  influence  in  it.  It  will  save  much  time,  dis- 
cussion and  some  hard  feeling,  to  get  the  general  scheme, 
plan,  purpose  and  limit  of  purpose,  well  defined  and 
mapped  out,  before  it  is  to  be  talked  about  and  men 
brought  into  it.  It  ib  so  easy  for  men  to  carelessly  .'orm 
plans,  and  start  upon  ideas  which  it  is  more  or  less  diffi-  ~ 
culi  to  give  up.  It  is  much  better  to  present  the  whole 
(a  map  of  the  whole)  where  the  balance  of  parts  and  the 
consequent  boundaries  are  taken  in  at  a  glance,  before 
any  part  is  seen  by  itself  and  becomes  of  more  importance 
than  all  the  rest.  Here,  as  in  everything  else  (Sanitary 
Commission),  the  first  necessity  of  economy  and  efficienc)' 


1 8  THE  VfflOff  LEAGUE  CLUB. 

Is  a  clear  limitation  of  what  is  to  be  undertaken.  (Sun- 
day night  will  be  the  last  chance  for  me  on  this  subject 
for  a  month  or  two.) 

Yours  cordially, 

Fred'k  Law  Olmsted. 

'Prof.   WOLCOTT    GiBBS. 


It  was  between  the  date  of  this  correspondence 
and  the  middle  of  January,  1863,  that  a  quarterly 
session  of  the  United  States  Sanitary  Commission  was 
held  in  Washington.  What  further  consultation  Dr. 
Gibbs  may  have  had  meanwhile  with  members  of  the 
Executive  Committee  on  the  subject  of  the  proposed 
club,  or  with  other  personal  friends,  we  are  not  able 
to  state.  Only  before  proceeding  to  note  what  occur- 
red In  returning  from  the  session  of  the  Sanitary 
Commission  at  Washington  to  New  York,  it  is  im- 
portant to  observe  that  the  original  idea  of  the  pro- 
posed club  of  loyalists  was  native  to  New  York,  and 
not  borrowed  from  Philadelphia.  The  conception  of 
our  club  was  earlier  than  that  of  the  Union  League 
Club  there,  which  was,  however,  sooner  organized  and 
named.  They  were  both  original  and  independent 
movements.  The  resemblance  in  their  titles  and  pur- 
poses might  lead  to  the  mistaker)  impression  that 
both  grew  out  of  one  impulse,  either  simultaneously 
or  in  succession,  our  Club  following  the  Philadelphia 
League.  But  this  is  not  historically  true,  even 
though    it    may    appear    that    the    existence     of     the 


THE  UNION  LEAGUE  CLUB.  I9 

Union  League  Club  in  Philadelphia  finally  decided 
the  title,  and  ii.  some  degree  influenced  the  form  of 
ours.  Perhaps,  too,  the  immediate  success  of  that 
organization  gave  whatever  impulse  was  still  needed 
to  hasten  the  development  of  the  original  idea  in 
the  minds  of  Prof.  Gibbs,  Olmsted,  and  the  other 
members  of  the  Executive  Committee  of  the  United 
States  Sanitary  Commission. 

On  a  certain  night  in  November,  1862,  the  New 
York  and  Philadelphia  members  cf  the  Sanitary 
Commission  were  letur'-ing  in  the  cars  to  their 
iiomes  in  Ph'adelphia  and  New  York,  and  the  con- 
versation fell  for  several  hours  exclusively  upon  the 
proposed  ^^oyalist  or  National  Club  which  had  al- 
ready beer  conceived.  The  Philadelphia  members. 
Judge  Hare,  Mr.  Horace  Binney,  Jr.,  and  some 
others,  recited  to  us  the  fresh  history  of  the  Union 
League  Club  just  started,  and  its  striking  effect 
upon  the  loyalty  of  the  community.  Prof.  Gibbs 
was  not  present,  nor  Mr.  Olmsted.  Dr.  Cornelius 
R.  Agnew,  George  T.  Strong,  Henry  W.  Bellows 
(perhaps  Dr.  William  H.  Van  Buren)  were  the  rep- 
resentatives of  the  proposed  Club  in  New  York, 
and  ;i3tened  with  intense  interest  to  the  statements 
of  the  Philadelphia  gentlemen  (all  members  of  the 
Sanitary  Commission  Board)  touching  the  success  of 
their  Union  League  Club.  To  say  the  least,  they  had 
realized  in  part  what  we  had  conceived  and  brooded 
over  for  several  months  without  bringing  to  birth, 
and  we  were  animated  to  allow  no  more  time  to  pass 


ao  THE  UNION  LEAGUE  CLUB. 

without  attempting  to  execute  the  plan  already,  as 
appears,  well  considered  and  definitely  shaped,  but 
only  on  paper,  and  in  our  minds  and  hearts.  That 
night  a  conference  and  discussion,  which  went  on 
after  we  had  left  our  fellow-Commissioners  in  Phila- 
delphia, and  lasted  pretty  much  the  Afhole  sleepless 
ten  hours  of  our  journey,  brought  the  enterprise  of 
a  Loyalist  Club  or  a  National  Club  to  the  point  of 
action.  It  was  then  and  there  resolved  to  make 
the  idea  a  fact.  As  the  Executive  Committee  of 
the  United  States  Sanitary  Commission  met  every 
day  at  one  o'clock  P.M.  for  the  transaction  of  its 
ordinary  engrossing  business,  there  was  no  need  of 
any  special  meetings  on  the  subject  of  the  pro- 
posed Club.  \Vc  had  only  to  adjourn  our  business 
meeting  and  go  on  with  an  informal  conversation 
upon  the  matter  of  the  Club,  which  had  then  no 
friends  outside  our  committee.  The  following  cir- 
cular shows  that  between  the  date  of  our  journey 
(November,  1862)  and  January  15,  1863,  we  had 
called  in  at  least  four  personal  friends  not  members 
of  our  Executive  Committee.  The  four  first  names 
In  the  first  printed  circular  are  the  names  of  members 
of  the  Executive  Committee  of  the  United  States  Sani> 
tary   Commission. 

The  connection,  direct  and  vital,  as  it  was  between 
the  individual  members  of  the  Executive  Committee 
of  the  United  States  Sanitary  Commission  and  the 
originators  of  the  Union  League  Club  reflected 
no  political   character   upon   the  Sanitary  Commission 


THE  UNION  LEAGUE  CLUB.  21 

Other  than  it  had  always  borne  —  that  of  intense 
loyalty  and  devotion  to  nationality.  It  rather  gave 
its  own  character  to  the  Club  and  nationalized  and 
lifted  it  to  its  own  unpartisan  level  —  its  indepen- 
dence of  sect,  of  state,  of  party.  The  Club  soon 
had  the  opportunity  of  repaying  the  Sanitary  Com- 
mission for  its  parentage,  f->r  the  whole  membership 
became  ardent  and  active  supporters  of  the  Commis- 
sion, and  the  Metropolitan  Fair,  which  poured  over 
a  million  dollars  into  the  treasury,  was  organised  in 
its   Club   house. 

Here  follows  the  circular,  which  is  the  fundamen- 
tal document  in  the  history  of  the  Union  League 
Club. 

[confidential.] 

JlEW  York,  yanuaty  15,  1863. 
Sir: 

The  urgency  of  th  t  present  great  national  crisis, 
and  the  revolutionary  schemes  which  unprincipled  men 
are  plotting  to  accomplish,  make  it  the  immediate  duty 
of  all  loyal  citize.>s  so  to  organize  themselves  as  to  give 
the  most  efficient  support  to  the  national  cause. 

It  is,  therefore,  proposed  to  form  in  the  City  of  New 
York  a  club  which  may  be  known  'i  the  National  Club, 
tne  objects  of  which  shall  be  to  cultivate  a  profound 
national  devotion,  as  distinguished  from  that  of  sectional 
feeling ;  to  strengtnen  a  love  and  respect  for  the  Union, 
and  discourage  whatever  tends  to  give  undue  prominence 
to  purely  local  interests ;  to  discuss  and  uri^e  upon  public 
attention  large  and  noble  schemes  of  national  advance- 


22  THE  UNION  LEAGUE  CLUB. 

ment ;  to  elevate  and  uphold  the  popular  faith  in  repub- 
lican government ;  to  dignify  politics  as  a  pursuit  and  a 
study;  to  reawaken  a  practical  interest  in  public  affairs  in 
those  who  have  become  discouraged;  to  enforce  a  sense 
of  the  sacred  obligation  inherent  in  citizenship;  and, 
finally,  to  bring  to  bear  upon  the  national  life  all  that  a 
body  of  earnest  and  patriotic  men  can  accomplish  by 
united  effort. 

It  is  believed  that  an  association  of  such  men  under  a 
simple  organization  of  asocial  character,  frankly  exchang- 
ing views  upon  great  questions  and  actively  engaged  in 
disseminating  them,  could  accomplish  a  noble  work.  The 
only  requisite  for  membership,  besides  unblemished  repu- 
tation, should  be  nn  uncompromising  and  unconditional 
loyalty  to  the  Nation,  and  a  complete  subordination 
thereto  of  all  other  political  Ideas. 

Should  these  objects  meet  with  your  cordial  approba- 
tion and  sympathy,  and  should  you  be  disposed  to  take 
part  in  the  proposed  organization,  you  will  please  ad- 
dress one  of  the  undersigned  at  your  earliest  conve- 
nience. 

Very  respectfully  your  obedient  servants, 
WoLCOTT  GiBBS,     56  East  29th  Street, 
Georob  T.  Strong,     74  East  jist  Street, 
Henry  W.  Bellows,     59  East  joth  Street, 
Cornelius  R.  Aonew,     361  Fifth  Avenue, 
George  C.  Anthon,     8j  East  35th  Street, 
Georoe  Gibbs,     a6i  Greene  Street, 
George  F.  Allen,    4  a  East  14th  Street, 
William  J.  Hoppin,     61  Pine  Street. 

Although  thii  printed  circular,  a  copy  of  which  li 
before  the  writer,  It  dated*  January  15,  1863,  It  li 
certain   that   it   was   not    issued    until    later,  and  prob- 


THE  UNION  LEAGUE  CLUB.  23 

ably  not  signed  by  the  four  last  gentlemen  until 
near  the  close  of  the  month.  The  rough  draft  was 
written  by  Dr.  Gibbs  and  printed,  that  it  might  be 
deliberately  considered  and  criticised  or  improved  by 
his  colleagues  before  being  issued.  The  following  ex- 
tracts from  letters,  all  before  the  c'ose  of  January, 
excepting  one,  will  show  what  the  nature  of  the  criti- 
cisms was,  and  how  the  circular  took  on  the  form 
it   finally  bore,  as  above  given. 

LETTERS   OF   GEO.   T.   STRONG  TO   DR.   GIBBS. 

68  Wall  Street,  yan,  so,  i8fij, 

My  dear  Gibbs  ; 

I  enclose  copies  of  revise  of  National 
Club  Circular,  and  have,  pursuant  to  your  request,  sent 
others  to  Hoppin,  G.  F.  Allen,  and  Anthon.  Also  a 
dozen  or  so  to  your  brother  George. 

Mr.  C approves  most  heartily,  and  decidedly  in- 
sists on  being  a  member,  but  he  rather  prefers  not  to  be 
concerned  in  getting  it  up — first,  because  he  has  not  time 
to  do  anything  about  it ;  and,  secondly,  because  he  thinks 
it  looks  a  little  indelicate  for  an  office-holder  to  be  active 
and  prominent  in  forming  an  organization  to  support 
government. 

Mr.  B (a  distinguished  lawyer)  objects  somewhat 

to  your  "  objects,"  though  approving  the  general  design. 
"  To  oppose  State-right  dogmas  open  or  insidious,"  he 
thinks  wrong,  because  it  is  certain  that  States,  as  such, 
have  corttin  righti  that  ought  to  be  upheld.  He  pro- 
pose! to  lend  me  to-morrow  a  memorandum  of  the  wordi 
^e  would  like  to  substitute. 


14  THE  UNION  LEAGUE  CLUB. 

Would  it  not  be  an  improvement  to  strike  out  the 
wordi  "to  draw  State  lines  or"?     •     •     • 

Very  truly  yours, 

George  T.  Strong. 
Dt.  Wou;ott  Gibbs. 

P.  S. — I  have  noted  one  or  two  change  on  one  of  the 
copiei  enclofcd,  and  lubmit  them  to  your  Judgment. 


68  Wall  Strikt,  yan.  1 1,  i86j. 
My  dear  Gibbt  : 

I  enclose  herewith  a  note  received  from  Wil- 
liam J.  Hoppin  this  morning,  also  copy  of  circular  as 
amended  by  C.  E.  B.  Mr.  Allen  cordially  approves,  but 
•uggests  that  we  ought  to  have  a  few  more  strong  names. 
Can  you  supply  any?  Did  Bellows  write  to  Rev.  Dr. 
IHtchcock  on  the  subject?    •    •     •    • 

Very  truly  yours, 

George  T.  Strong. 


60  Pine  St.,  New  York,  yan.  »o,  1863. 
Afy  dtar  Sir . 

I  cordially  approve  of  the  objects  staved 
in  the  circular  you  have  been  so  kind  as  to  send  me. 

I  feel  honored  by  having  my  name  appended  to  it,  and 
will  do  my  best  to  assist  in  carrying  out  the  plan  it  pro- 
poses. 

Very  truly  yours, 

William  J.  Hoppin. 
G.  T.  Strono,  Esq.  . 


TtlE  UNION  LEAGUE  CLUB.  2$ 

<8  Wall  St.,  yan.  tj,,  1863. 
My  dear  Gibbs : 

I  have  yours  of  the  2ist,  written  before 
the  receipt  of  my  letter  enclosing  you  a  copy  of  the  cir- 
cular as  modified  by  C.  E.  B.  You  will  find  I  think  that 
you  ap"  J  in  p'inciple.  My  hesitation  about  the  words 
"to  liiaw  State  lines  "was  not  as  to  the  soundness  of 
your  meaning,  but  Ai  to  the  accuracy  of  the  expression, 
which  in  strictness  belongs  to  geography  oi  ~<urvcying 
rather  than  to  political  science.  It  may  have  acquired  a 
larger  meaning,  by  usage,  however.  Our  friend  G.  F. 
Allen  called  here  thii  morning  (before  I  received  your 
letter)  full  of  warm  interest  in  the  matter.  He  will  be  a 
useful  and  diligent  ally.     *     *     * 

Very  tiuly  yours, 

Geo.  T.  Strong. 
Prof.  W.  Gibbs. 


My  dear  Gibbs : 


68  Wall  St.,  yan.  j<,  1863. 


As  you  will  doubtless  be  in  New  York 
early  next  week,  I  think  it  best  not  to  issue  the  circular 
till  you  return.  We  will  then,  if  you  please,  devote  the 
first  spare  evening  to  a  council  of  eight  or  ten,  at  yojr 
house  or  mine,  and  settle  the  matter.  I  t'iink  we  shall 
gain  by  this  enough  to  compensate  for  a  littlj  loss  of 
,  time,  although  I  am  as  anxious  to  expedite  organization 
as  you  can  be.  I  see  daily  evidence  of  the  incceasing 
audacity  of  our  sympathizers  and  dirt-eaters.  They  are 
now  trying  t^  embarrass  government  by  discrediting  its 
paper,  privately  disseminating  at  'ong  mechanics  and  la- 
boring men  the  notion  that  it  will  never  be  good  for  any- 


36  THE  UNION  LEAGUE  CLUB. 

thin'T.  I  heard  this  morning  of  a  small  tradesman  rather 
demurring  to  a  dollar  greenback  because  an  alderman, 
who  was  a  v~ry  smcirt  man,  told  him  he  knew  Tre.isury 
notes  were  aosolutely  worthless. 

Very  truly  yours, 

Geo.  T.  Strong. 

Dr.   WOIXOTT    GiDBJ. 


Sunday,  Jan.  25,  1863. 
My  dear  Gibbs  : 

The  proposed  Club  takes  strong  ground 
against  the  absurd  doctrine  of  States  rights.  This  ai>- 
pears  to  be  its  cardinal  dogma.  Now,  this  doctrine  was 
nearly  obsolete  at  the  North,  and  was  only  revived  as 
the  safest  and  surest  legal  method  of  attacking  the  Gov- 
ernment. Do  )'ou  think,  then,  that  any  Democrat  will 
join  you?  And  will  you  not  be  merely  a  Republican  as- 
sociation, and  as  such,  of  little  service  at  present?  For 
nothing  but  a  crushing  victor^'  can  save  Lincoln  and  the 
Republicans  from  being  overrun  by  the  Seymouritcs  and 
State-rights  men.     •     •     • 

Yours  ever, 

.     F.  S. 


I'he  circular,  as  originally  drawn,  was  evidently  re- 
vised in  accordance  with  the  suggestion  of  Mr.  Strong 
and  C.  E.  B.,  until  it  took  on  the  shape  in  which  it 
appeai-s  above.  No  changes  of  principle  were  neccs- 
»ar>'.  Dr.  Gibbs  was  not  a  lawyer,  and  Mr.  Strong 
and  C.  E.  B.  were  both  lawyers.  He  was  not  a  poli- 
tician—  as   tome    objectors   were.      Between    the    15th 


THE  UNION  LEAGUE  ClUB.  2J 

and  th<:  26th  the  circular  had  been  completed,  ind 
the  gentlemen  whose  signatures  it  bears,  outside  of 
the  original  four  members  from  the  Sanitary  Commis- 
sion, had  been  gained  over,  and  became  united  with 
the  movement.  Tl  e  circular  for  the  first  meeting  is 
as  follows: 

59  East  »9TH  Street,  yan.  ift,  1863. 
Sir  : 

You  are  respectfully  invited  to  attend  a  meeting 
called  to  take  into  consideration  the  plan  embodied  in 
the  accompanying  circular,  at, the  house  of  Dr.  Wolcott 
Gibbs,  59  East  29th  Street,  on  Friday,  the  30th  instant, 
at  8  P.M. 

Very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servants, 
W.  J.  HoppiN,  C.  R.  Agnew, 

WoLCOTT  Gibbs,  George  Gibbs, 

George  T.  Strong,  Henry  W.  Bellows, 

Geo.  C.  Akthon,  George  F.  Allen. 

The  proceedings  and  the  names  of  the  persons  pre- 
sent  at  this  meeting  will  be  given  in  a  later  part  of 
this  history.  At  present  we  concern  ourselves  only  with 
settling  the  question  of  the  origin  and  originators  and 
first  shapers  of  the  Club.  The  second  called  meeting 
was  held  at  the  house  of  Mr.  George  T.  Strong,  under 
the  following  circular  invitation. 

74  East  aiST  Street,  yarn.  31,  1863. 

You  are  respectfully  invited  to  attend  an  adjourned 
meeting  to  take  into  further  consideration  the  proposition 


38  THE  UNION  LEAGUE  CLUB. 

to  organize  a  National  Club  in  the  City  of  New  York, 
and  to  receive  the  report  of  the  Committee  on  Organita 
tion,  at  the  house  of  George  T.  Strong,' No.  74  East  2i»t 
Street,  on  Friday,  the  6th  day  of  Feb'y,  at  8  P.M. 
Very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servants, 

WoLCOTT   GiBBS,  Henrv  W.    Bellows, 

George  F.  Allen;  William  J.  Hoppin, 

George  Gibbs,  George   C.   Anthon, 

C.   R.  Agnew. 

It  will  be  observed  that  Mr.  F.  L.  Olmsted's  name 
docs  not  occur  in  these  two  calls,  active  and  influen- 
tial as  he  had  been  in  forming  the  Club.  The  truth 
Is,  he  was  tied  to  Washington  by  his  incessant  and 
responsible  duties  as  Secretary  and  chief  executive  offi- 
cer of  the  Sanitary  Commission,  and  this  not  only  pre- 
vented his  taking  any  part  in  the  preliminary  meet- 
ings, except  by  his  invaluable  letters,  but  from  any 
considerable  participation  in  the  doings  of  the  Club 
after  it  was  established.  His  name  docs  not  occur 
among  the  original  corporators.  It  is  found  in  the 
roll  of  members  for  the  first  two  years  and  not  after- 
wards. Dr.  Gibbs'  name  is  among  the  corporators,  and 
is  likewise  in  the  roll  for  the  first  two  years  only. 
His  removal  to  Cambridge  as  Professor  in  Harvard 
University,  took  him  away  from  New  York  at  the 
time  his  services  would  have  been  very  valuable  to 
the  Club.  Neither  of  the  two  men  most  instrumental 
in  forming  the  Club  ever  held  any  office  in  it,  or  was 
heard  in  its  public  councils.  Mr.  Strong's  interest 
and    influence,   considerable   as   it   was,   was    obviously 


THE  UNIOff  LEAGUE  CLUB.  29 

second  to  theirs.  He  was  an  active  member  of  the 
Committee  on  Admissions.  His  services,  with  this  ex- 
ception, mainly  ended  with  the  forming  of  the  Club, 
yet,  on  his  resignation,  he  was  fitly  honored  with  an 
election  to  honorary  membership.  That  Mr.  Olmsted's 
interest  in  the  movement  had  not  slackened  in  ab- 
sence is  plain  from  the  following  letter,  which  bears 
a  date  between  the  first  and  second  preliminary  meet- 
ings. 

MR.   OLMSTED  TO   DR.   GIBBS. 

Washington,  yan.  31,  1863. 

.  My  dear  Gibbs  : 

release  let  mc  know  of  your  progress  with 
the  National.  /  Now  is  the  time  to  drive  that  sort  of 
thing  it  seems  to  me.  It  looks  to  me  as  if  the  question  of 
popular  doggedness  of  purpose  in  the  war  was  soon  to  be 
determined,  and  might  be  turned  by  a  hair.  It  is  only 
necessary  that  a  certain  number  of  men  should  commit 
themselves  to  go  through  with  it  whatever  comes,  and 
whoever  drops  out ;  to  give  no  hearing  to  any  suggestion 
of  quitting,  come  what  will,  to  make  final  success  sure. 

/We  have  more  of  the  brute  force  of  persistent  obstinacy 
in  our  Northern  blood  than  the  South  has,  if  we  can  only 
get  it  in  play,  and  it  is  plainly  merely  a  question  who 
will  hold  out  longest.  The  danger  is  that  the  politicians 
will  get  the  idea  that  the  people  are  tired  of  the  war,  and 
begin  to  play  for  that  disposition.  We  ought  to  )m\z 
the  means  by  organization  in  anj  crisis  to  create  and 
manifest  public  sentiment  against  them.  We  ought  to 
be  able  to  bring  evidence  such  as  (is  offered)  by  the  con- 
tinued contributions  to  the  Sanitary  Commission,  that 


JO  THE  UNION  LEAGUE  CLUB. 

the  people  arc  still  ready  to  sacrifice  of  their  property  in 
the  war, — ready,  willing  and  able./  We  ought  to  be  able  to 
have,  at  any  step  backward  like  that  of  the  Democrats 
in  Indiana,  a  countcr-'itcp,  like  that  of  the  Democratic 
officers  from  Indiana.  Such  matters  should  not  be  trusted 
to  take  care  of  themselves.  Be  sure  the  traitors  don't 
trust  to  mere  spontaneous  action  of  their  sympathirers. 
^he  quiet  substantial  people  are  sound  ;  but  quiet,  sub- 
stantial people  don't  ihow  themselves.  Your  League 
ought  to  be  extended  over  the  whole  country  before 
Congress  adjourns,  and  it  ought  to  have  something  to  do 
besides  talk  within  itself.^  Should  a  club  or  league  be 
started  in  Washington  of  residents,  like  BacheP  Can  I 
be  of  use  to  suggest  it?  If  not,  please  tell  me  why  not, 
that  is,  why  are  you  not  ready  to  spread  the  move- 
ment ?  Are  you  discussing  it  ?  •  •  • 
'  I  feel,  you  will  sec,  as  if  our  machinery  for  spreading 
sanitary  ideas  through  the  country  ought  to  be  made  use 
of  for  strengthening  the  Union  otherwise,  somehow,  as 
this  could  be  done  at  no  coit.     •     •     • 

Why  not  get  together  three  or  four  men  in  Philadel- 
phia next  week,  meeting  the  Philadelphia  Leagues,  and 
determine  upon  a  form  of  pledge  or  instrument  of  link- 
ing together  for  the  counlry?  I  like  your  printed  state- 
ment better  the  oftener  I  read  it ;  it  is  excellent,  and  I 
should  be  glad  to  have  you  hold  to  it  every  word,  and 
without  addition,  as  it  originally  stood.  The  Philadel- 
phian  didn't  mean  enough.  Any  rogue  could  drive  a 
four-horse  coach  through  it.  Everybody  who  has  been 
in  Fort  Lafayette  could  swear  to  it.  Loyalty  meant  lick- 
spittle to  save  the  Union  with  some  men.  "On  what 
terms  would  you  take  peace?"  That  is  what  we  want 
to  know  of  men  we  are  to  associate  with.  On  condition 
of  unquestionable  nationality  based  on  Federalism  and 
the  annihilation  of  the  dogma  of  States-rights  (as  ever 


THE  UNION  LEAGUE  CLUB.  3 1 

under  any  circumstances  to  be  thought  of  as  superior  to 
it).  That  is  the  battle  we  have  got  to  fight  now  or  here- 
after. I  want  to  fight  it  now,  when  our  hand  is  in./ Avoid 
words  which  connect  us  with  the  old  fight  as  much  as 
you  can,  and  use  those,  and  those  allusions,  which  make 
it  a  matter  of  to-day,  as  much  as  possible,  but  do  so  in 
order  to  commit  and  establish  the  temper  of  the  people 
for  the  struggle  in  the  long  future  against  Westernism 
and  all  other  forms  of  breaking  up.  I  like  yours  a  great 
deal  better  than  the  Philadelphia  heading,  though  it 
must,  of  course,  take  a  diflferent  form,  as  a  constitutional 
declaration. 

But  pray  get  it  into  that  form  and  set  it  going. 

Yours  afTectionately, 

Fred.  Law  Olmsted. 
Prof.  GiBBS. 


This  introduction  to  the  history  o  the  Club,  sets 
forth  unmistakably  its  origin,  and  the  .Jeas  and  spirit 
of  its  founders.  It  is  not  necessary  to  carry  it  further, 
and  some  apology  is  due  to  the  younger  and  now  ac- 
tive members  of  the  Club,  and  to  those  who  have 
since  really  done  the  work  of  the  Union  League 
Club,  for  dwelling  so  long  upon  the  early  history  and 
so  much  out  of  all  proportion  to  the  space  and  time 
we  shall  give  to  its  working  history.  But  that  might 
safely  enough  be  postponed.  It  is  all  in  existence  in 
documentary  form,  and  on  the  minutes  of  the  Club. 
What  we  have  told  in  this  introduction  is  largely  from 
personal  recollection,  or  from  private  letters,  likely  to 
perish.    The  actors  in  these  events  are  mostly  elderly 


32  THE  UNION  LEAGUE  CLUB. 

men,  or  have  already  passed  away.  A  few  years  will 
remove  all  the  immediate  witnesses  of  the  birth  of  a 
Club  no  older  than  1863,  and  the  men  who  actually 
cradled  the  infant  will  be  beyond  all  questioning.  What 
is  here  written,  can  be  now  established  from  the 
living  lips  of  four  out  of  the  five  founders  of  the 
Union  League  Club,  and  must  be  accepted  as  true 
and  impartial  history.  Mr.  George  T.  Strong,  the 
other,  speaks  to  us  in  the  letters  here  reproduced. 
They  arc  ^11  in  the  possession  of  Prof.  Wolcott 
Gibbs,  but  should  be  in  the  files  of  the  Club,  where, 
if    asked,  he  would  gladly  place  them. 


II. 

ORGANIZATION  OF  THE  CLUB. 

"The  Loyal  National  League,"  which  had  thirty 
branches  in  this  State,  and  Union  Leagues  in  Penn- 
sylvania and  other  States,  were  all  the  fruits  of  a 
common  feeling  of  necessity  for  organizing  public 
sentiment  against  the  threatened  loss  of  nationality. 
The  men  who  moved  in  the  foundation  of  "  the  Loyal 
National  League "  in  fhis  city  were  very  much  the 
same  men  who  formed  the  Union  League  Club, 
and  it  is  not  easy  to  say  which  movement  had  pri- 
ority in  time.  Each  was  animated  by  the  same 
heart.  We  cannot  proceed  to  the  organization  of 
the  Club  without  paying  this  brief  tribute  to  "the 
Loyal   National   League,"   which   did   excellent  service. 


THE  UNION  LEAGUE  CLUB.  ,   33 

and    poured    its    strength    finally    into    our     associa- 
tion. 

The  object  of  the  Union  League  Clubs  in  this 
country  was  to  concentrate  and  organize  the  senti- 
ment of  devotion  to  the  Union  and  the  nation  al- 
ready weakened,  and  further  threatened  by  the  hov 
tility  of  parties,  and  by  a  sympathy  either  from  fear 
of  consequences  or  from  pro-slavery  proclivities,  with 
the  Southern  rebellion.  At  this  date,  January,  1863, 
the  war,  already  begun,  inauspiciously  and  with  many 
unexpected  reverses,  was  regarded  by  the  commerce 
■of  the  country  with  a  demoralizing  alarm.  An  in- 
adequate sense  of  the  danger  to  our  national  life, 
and  of  the  necessity  of  vigorous  and  decisive  meas- 
ures for  putting  down  the  rebellion,  gave  oUr  Gov- 
ernment an  appeararce  of  irresolution  in  its  military 
preparation,  and  of  indeterminateness  in  it:,  princi- 
ples of  action.  The  doctrine  of  "  State  Sovereignty," 
carried  to  the  point  of  denying  the  constitutional 
right  of  the  nation  and  the  Government  to  protect 
and  preserve  the  Union  at  all  hazards,  was  still  main- 
tained by  politicians  in  the  North.  A  suicidal  doubt 
infected  one  considerable  party  in  the  country,  as  to 
the  possibility  of  holding  the  States  in  open  rebellion 
against  their  free  will,  to  the  national  contract  of 
unity  and  allegiance  to  the  common  flag.  The  bor- 
der States  were  apparently  watching  the  course  of 
events  to  see  on  wh-ch  side  of  the  controversy  they 
should  range  themselves,  ready  to  jump  to  the  safe 
jide  of   the  fence,  whichever  that  should   prove,  but 


34  TUB  UNION  LEAGUE  CLUB. 

■eemingly  hopeful  that  it  would  turn  out  to  be  the 
Southern  side.  Commercial  interests  were  naturally 
timid  in  the  presence  of  civil  war,  and  were  ready 
to  sacrifice  principle  to  peace.  The  party  in  the 
North  most  accustomed  to  rely  on  Southern  votes, 
gave  a  dangerous  support  to  the  rebellion  by  dis- 
countenancing all  energy  in  the  Government  in  its 
efforts  to  quench  the  fires  of  secession.  A  consider- 
able portion  of  the  more  ignorant,  who  hated  the 
negro,  and  thought  his  natural  place  was  that  of  a 
slave,  were  ready  with  their  votes  at  the  polls,  and 
their  mobs  in  the  streets  of  our  cities,  to  spread 
terror  through  the  hearts  of  the  people,  who  feared 
that  civil  war  would  break  out  in  the  North,  while 
rebellion  was  raging  in  the  South.  Foreign  powers, 
obterving  our  domestic  divisions  and  lack  of  national 
confidence  and  courage  in  contending  with  our  great 
difficulty,  were  favorably  considering  the  policy  of  ac- 
knowledging the  Southern  confederates  as  belligerents, 
and  waited  only  for  a  little  more  success  on  their 
part,  and  a  little  more  discouragement  on  ours,  to  an- 
nounce a  fatal  neutrality  towards  the  country  and  its 
enemies,  or  to  take  aides  with  our  domestic  foes  against 
the  flag  and  the  Union.  The  stales  in  atte.ipted 
•ece«sion  were  growing  more  united  and  more  confi- 
dent, ai  we  grew  more  divided  and  more  hopeless. 
They  were  encouraged  to  put  forth  their  utmost  ex- 
ertion ;  their  men  and  their  women  were  in  full  ac- 
cord; the  old  and  the  young  rushed  into  the  ranks, 
and    the    prevailing   thought  and    purpose   of   the   whole 


THE  UNION  LEAGUE  CLUB.  35 

k/  South,  was,  at  every  sacrifice  of  property  and  life,  to 
secure  the  end  of  an  absolute  and  final  separation 
and  independence — the  setting  up  of  an  unchecked 
slave-power  within  the  old  limits  of  the  country — 
henceforth  the  inevitable  rival  and  enemy  of  the  free 
states,  and  the  possessor  of  the  mouths  of  the  Mis- 
sissippi, the  chief  vent  of  the  commer-e  of  the  loyal 
states  in  the  West. 

It  was  to  meet  and  overcome  this  alarming  state  of 
doubt  and  apathy,  or  of  a  mistaken  sympathy  with  re- 
bellion in  the  North,  and  especially  in  our  cities,  that 
the  Union  League  Club  in  Philadelphia  was  formed 
as  a  rallying  centre  for  the  unconditional  loyalty  that 
already  remained  in  the  North,  and  an  instrument  fo^ 
propagating  this  sentiment  among  the  irresolute,  doubt- 
'  ful  or  despairing.  It  was  honorable  to  the  city  in 
which  the  original  declaration  of  independence  was 
r.iade,  that  the  movement  for  defending  our  national 
life  by  an  unparti&an  organization  of  loyal  citizens  for 
the  more  distinct  and  emphatic  declaration  of  fidelity 
'  to  the  Union,  should  have  been  first  organized  there. 
Their  example  animated  and  quickened  the  original 
projectors  of  this  Club,  though  our  purpose  was  older 
and  independent  of  theirs,  and  it  is  due  <.o  them  and 
to  ourselves,  to  acknowledge  their  priority  in  action. 

Let  us  now  take  up  the  threaJ  A  our  own  history 
as  a  Club.  Several  preliminary  meetings,  formal  or  in- 
formal,  had  been  held  by  the  original  projectors  of  this 
Association  in  the  month  of  January,  1863.  The  gentle- 
men  already  named  as  its  designers,  ha^l  called  a  feir 


3^  THE  VNION  LEAGUE  CLUb. 

well  known  citizois  of  unmistakable  loyalty  to  share 
their  councils  at  the  third  or  perhaps  the  fourth  prelimi. 
nary  meeting,  held  on  the  30th  of  January,  1863,  at  the 
house  of  Dr.  Wolcott  Gibbs,  (No.  59  East  29th  Street.) 

The  following  persons  were  present : 
Hon.  Murray  HorrMAH,  Rev.    Henry  W.  Bellows, 

Cornelius  R.  Aonew,  M.  D.       Prof.  Wolcott  Gibbs, 
GiOROE  T.  Strong,  Georoe  C.  Anthon, 

Rev.  Dr.  S.  H.  Weston,  Horatio  Allen, 

John  C.  Dalton,  Jr.,  M.  D.  Prof.  T.  W.  Dwioht, 

William  J.  Hoppin. 

These  gentlemen  had  come  together  under  the  call 
of  a  circular  invitation  dated  New  York,  January  15th, 
1863.  which,  with  the  signatures,  has  already  been  given. 

At  this  meeting,  held  January  30th,  1863,  Hon.  Mur- 
ray Hoffman  acted  as  Chairman,  and  George  T.  Strong 
•a  Sc<;retary.  On  motion  of  Dr.  Wolcott  Gibbs,  It  was 
resolved,  "  That  a  committee  of  three  be  appointed  by 
tbe  Qvair  to  prepare  a  scheme  of  organizatinr?  for  the 
proposed  National  Club,  and  to  report  it  to  an  .idjounte'i 
meeting."  Dr.  Wolcott  Gibbs,  Prof.  Dwight  and  Morrto 
Allen  were  appointed   to   act  as  this  committee. 

It  was  further  Resolved — 

That  it  be  referred  to  the  same  committee  to  con- 
sider and  report  on  the  expediency  and  practicability 
of  establishing  an  affiliated  organization  for  the  same 
object  throughout  the  country. 

That  when  this  meeting  adjourn  it  adjourn  to  meet 
at  the  houM  of  George  T.  Strong,  No.  74  East  31st 
Street,  on  Friday  the  6th  day  of  February  next,  at 
8  o'clock  P.  M. 


THE  UNION  LEAGUE  CLUB.  37 

This  adjourned  meeting  was  held  at  the  time  and 
place  named. 

Present : 
Hon.  Murray  Hoffman,  Dr.  Wolcott  Gibbs,  Rev.  Dr. 
Hitchcock,  Horatio  Allen,  William  J,  Hoppin,  G.  C. 
Anthon,  H.  Peters  Gray,  Cornelius  R.  Agnew,  Fred- 
erick Sheldon,  William  C.  Bryant,  George  F.  Allen,  Geo. 
T.  Strong.  Judge  Murray  Hoffmai  was  in  the  chdir, 
and  Geo.  T.  Strong  acted  as  Secretary  Dr.  Wolcott 
Gibbi  presented  the  report  from  the  Committee  on 
a  scheme  of  organization.  The  plan  reported  was 
amended  and  finally  (Feb.  2ist,  1863,)  adopted  as  fol- 
lows: 

UNION  LEAGUE. 

The  undersigned  agree  to  associate  under  the  name 
of  The  Union  League,  and  to  adopt  the  following 
fundamental  articles  of  association,  to  wit : 

1.  The  condition  of  membership  shall  be 'absolute 
and  unqualified  loyalty  to  the  government  of  the 
United  States,  and  unwavering  support  of  its  efforts 
for  the  suppression  of  the  rebellion. 

2.  The  primary  object  of  the  Association  shall  be  to 
discountenance  and  rebuke  by  moral  and  social  influ- 
ences all  disloyalty  to  the  F-deral  Government,  and 
to  that  end  the  members  will  use  every  proper  means 
in  public  and  private. 

3.  We  pledge  ourselves  by  every  means  in  our 
power,  collectively  and  individually,  to  resist  to  the 
uttermost  every  p'  :mpt  against  the  territorial  Integrity 
of  the  Nation. 

To  meet  the  necessary  expenditures,  each  member 


38 


THE  UNION  LEAGUE  CLUB. 


shall  pay  to  the  Treasurer,  annually  in  advance,  the 
sum  of  ten  dollars. 

There  shall  be  a  standing  committee  consisting  of 
nine  members,  who  shall  have  a  general  supervision  of 
the  cenccrns  of  the  League. 

There  shall  also  be  for  the  present  a  committee  on 
Admissions,  consisting  of  seven  members,  whose  duty  it 
shall  be  to  pass  upon  the  name  of  each  candidate,  who 
may  be  presented   for  membership. 

The  officers  of  the  League  shall  consist  of  a  Secre- 
tary and  Treasurer,  to  be  elected  with  the  Committees 
on  the  second  Wednesday  in  January  in  each  year 
hereafter. 

Members  of  similar  organizations,  elsewhere  estab- 
lished and  recognized  by  this  League,  shall  be  entitled, 
when  in  New  York,  to  all  the  privil-ges  of  member- 
ship, subject  to  surh  regulations  as  the  Standing  Com- 
mittee may  determine. 


MuRKAV  HorrMAK, 

John  J.  Cisco, 

Alsx.  Van  Renssilakk, 

WiLLAKD    PaRKKR, 

William  C.   Bryant, 
Roi't  L.  Kennedy, 
Charles  Kino, 
William  Curtis  Noybs, 
Jamis  W.  Deekman, 
George  T.  Strong, 

W.    TEMfLETON    JOHHtOlf, 

J.  Butler  Wrioht, 
Charles  D.  Smith, 
Georoe  C.  Anthon, 
Henry  W.   Bellows, 

WOLCOTT    GiRES, 

Jamu  McKati, 


Georoe  Griswold, 
George  F.  Allen, 
W.   H.   L.  Barnes, 
Andrew  S.  Snellino, 
Charles  Jenkins, 
Nahum  Sullivan, 
Edward  S.   Bartlett, 
Freeman  J.  Bumstead, 
Alfred  L.   Edwardi, 
Charles  A.  Jay, 
W.  S.   Brown, 
J.    J.    J0NE^ 

John  E.  Williams, 
Henry   L.  Jacques, 
Francis  B.  Cuttimo, 
Francis  Lieber, 
Hamilton  Horrm, 


'  THE  UNION  LEAGUE  CLUB.  39 

Ceorge  Gibbs,  John  A.  Stevens,  Jr., 

Theo.  W.  Dwight,  C.  R.  Oilman, 

George  A.  Peters,  William  H.  Draper, 

Cornelius  R.  Acnbw,  Benjamin  Collins, 

Henry  C.  Dorr,  Charles  Collins, 

Charles  E.  Butler,  William  A.  Budd, 

A.  G.  Agnew,  Samuel  W.  Bridgham, 

John  C.  Peters,  Henry  A.  Smvthe, 

William  J.  Hoppin,  Gurdon  Buck, 
George  Cabot  Ward,      ,^^    Jonathan  Sturces, 
C.  E.  Strong.                         "^ohn  C.  Dalton,  Jr., 
Richard  M.  aIunt,               .  J.  Cowper  Lord, 

Franklin  H.  Delano,  John  A.  King, 

John  Ordronaux,  Denning  Duer, 

Otis  D.  Swan,  William  G.  Kino, 

Albert  Mathews,  Samuel  Wktmore.* 

Upon  the  adoption  of  this  scheme,  it  was  Resolved — 
That   a   committee  on    pdmissions   be    appointed    to 
consi3t  of  five  members,  and  to  serve  until  the  organ- 
ization  of   the    League   shall   be  accomplished. 

The  Chair  appointed  Dr.  Gibbs,  Prof.  Dwight,  George 
F.  Allen,  George  C.  Anthon  and  George  T.  Strong  to 
act  as  this  committee.  William  J.  Hoppin  was  appointed 
Treasurer. 

It  was  Resolved— 

That  a  committee  of  five  have  general  power  to  do 
whatever  is  required  for  the  speedy  organization  of 
the  League,  and  to  call  a  meeting  of  .he  League  as 
soon  as  sufficient  progress  is  made  to  render  such  i 
meeting  expedient. 

Such  a  meeting  was  called  at  the  office  of  the 
United    States    Sanitary  Commission,   No.  823    Broad- 

*  These  neiutnret  mut  hare  been  Uiigelj  obtaiaed  rabieqoenllf  to  tb* 
AtX*  of  the  aaoplion  of  the  artidei,  bat  loofi  tftcr. 


40  THE   UNION  LEAGUE  Cl.UB. 

way,  on  February  21st,  1863.  There  were  present  Hon. 
Murray  Hoffman,  George  T.  Strong,  George  F.  Allen, 
Dr.  Willard  Parker,  William  C.  Bryant,  George  L.  Ken- 
nedy, James  W.  Bcckman,  Henr)'  W.  Bellows,  Wolcott 
Gibbs,  George  Griswold,  Charles  A.  Jay,  Francis  Lieber, 
George  Gibbs,  T.  W.  Dwight,  George  A.  Peters,  Cor- 
nelius R.  Agnew,  Henry  C.  Dorr,  William  J.  Hoppin, 
Franklin  H.  Delano,  Otis  D.  Swan,  Albert  Mathews,  J. 
M.  Stevens,  Benjamin  Collins,  Gurdon  Buck,  Jonathan 
Sturges,  John  C.  Dalton,  Jr.,  J.  Cowper  Lord  and 
others.  An  examination  of  this  list  will  show  how 
rapidly  the  association  was  commending  itself  to  lead- 
ing men  in  the  various  professions,  and  in  the  business 
pursuits  of  the  city. 

At  this  meeting  Otis  D.  Swan  was  unanimously 
elected   Secretary  of  the   League. 

The  early  minutes  of  this  Union  League  show  the 
following  orders  passed  at  this   meeting  : 

There  shall  be  a  Standing  Committee,  consisting  of 
nine  members,  who  .shall  have  a  general  supervision  of 
the  concerns  of  the  League. 

There  shall  also  be,  for  the  present,  a  Committee  on 
Admissions,  consisting  of  seven  members,  whose  duty  it 
thall  be  to  pass  upon  the  name  of  each  candidate  who 
may  be  presented  for  membership. 

The  officers  of  the  League  shall  consist  of  a  Secretary 
and  Treasurer,  to  be  elected  with  the  Committees  on 
the  second  Wednesday  in  January  in  each  year  here- 
after. 

Members  of  similar  organiiations,  elsewhere  rttablithed 
and  recognised  by  this  League,  shall  be  entitled,  when  in 
New  York,  to  all  the  privileges  of  membership  subject 


THE  UNION  LEAGUE  CLUB.  41 

to  such    regulations  as  the   Standing  Committee  may 
determine. 

Mr.  Charles  King  being  called  to  the  chair,  Mr.  Murray 
Hoffman  took  the  floor  and  offere.l  the  following  resolu- 
tion : 

"  Resolved,  That  a  communication  be  made  to  the 
Union  League  of  Philadelphia  requesting  their  con- 
sideratidn  of  the  following  suggestions  of  alliance  and 
assistance  : 

"  That  application  be  made  to  such  persons  as  may  be 
selected  in-  any  part  of  the  United  States,  urging  them 
to  form  a  League  of  loyal  citizens  upon  the  basis  of 
the  principles  adopted  by  the  said  Union  League  of 
Philadelphia  and  by  this  League. 

"  To  recommend  to  all  associations,  which  may  be 
then  established,  the  formal  adoption  of  the  leading  prin- 
ciples thus  declared. 

"  To  request  that  each  association  will  place  itself  in 
communication  with  the  Union  League  of  Philadelphia, 
with  the  name  of  the  Secretary,  and  that  the  latter 
apprise  every  other  Association  of  the  Union. 

"  Also,  of  recommending  the  expediency  of  appointing 
a  Committee  with  power  to  publish  brief  tracts  upon 
the  questions  growing  out  of  the  Rebellion,  which  may 
advance  the  cause  of  our  alliance  and  meet  the  false- 
hoods in  politics  and  hostility  to  constitutional  truth, 
now  spreading  among  us ;  and  further,  with  power  to 
make  such  other  recommendation  upon  the  whole  sub- 
ject as  may  seem  to  them  advisable. 

"  That  a  Committe«  of  three,  of  wh6m  the  Secretary 
shall  be  one,  be  appointed  to  carry  these  Resolutions 
into  effect." 

Dr.  Wolcbtt  GIbbs  ofTcfed  as  a  substitute  for  the  !•'  t 
of  the  foregoing  Resolutions,  the  follow  ing,  viz. : 

"Rtsolvfd,  That  a  Committee  consisting  of  ten  mem- 


43  THE  UNION  LEAGUE  CLUB. 

bera  be  appointed  to  proceed  to  Philadelphia  on  Monday 
the  23d  inst.,  to  take  part  in  the  exercises  of  the  Union 
League  on  Monday  evening,  and  to  confer  with  the 
officers  of  that  League  in  regard  to  matters  suggested  in 
the  foregoing  Resolutions." 

Which  substitute  being  accepted  by  Judge  Hoffman, 
the  Resolutions  offered  by  him  as  amended  were 
adopted  and  the  following  Committee  of  >en  were 
appointed  : 

Mu«RAY  HoffMAM,  Cornelius  R.  Aonkw, 

Charles  King,  Georci  F.   Allf.H, 

JoHK  E.  Williams,  William  J.   Hoppin, 

HtNRY  W.  Bellows,  Robert  L    Kennedy, 

GuRUON  BocE,  Dinning  Dut». 

Dr.  Gibbs  moved  the  foUowing  Resolution  : 

"That  a  Committee  of  three  be  appointed  to  draw 
up  and  present  to  the  next  meeting  of  the  Le.ngue  a 
•ystem  of  By-Laws  for  the  government  of  the  internal 
affairs  of  the  League."  It  was  adopted.  Dr.  Gibbs, 
Albert  Mathews  and  Otis  D.  Swan  were  appointed  such 
Committee. 

Dr.  Woicott  Gibbs  also  moved  the  following  Resolu> 
tion: 

"That  the  Secretary  be  requested  to  have  one  hundred 
copies  of  the  articles  of  association  printed  for  the  use  of 
the  members,  and  that  the  members  of  the  League  are 
requested  to  send  in  to  the  Committee  on  Admissions, 
the  names  of  persons  suitable  for  membership."  It  was 
adopted. 

Mr.  Jonathan  Sturges  offered  the  following  Resolu- 
tion : 

"That  a  committee  of  ten  appointed  pursuant  to  the 
Resolution  of  Judge  Hoffman,  have  power  to  strike 
(rom  the  articles  of  association  the  third  article,  if,  before 


THE  UNION  LEAGUE  CLUB.  43 

conference  with  the  officers  of  the  Union  League  of 
Philadelphia,  they  shall  deem  such  action  expedient." 
This  was  adopted. 

Mr.  George  Griswold  moved  the  following  Resolution  : 
■  "That  a  committee  be  appointed  by  the  Chairman  to 
select  a  building  for  the  use  of  the  League."  This  was 
adopted ;  and  Mr.  Griswold  and  Mr.  George  T.  Strong 
were  appointed  such  Committee. 

Upon  motion  of  Dr.  Gibbs,  the  Chairman,  the  Secre- 
tary and  Treasurer  were  empowered  to  call  a  meeting  of 
the  League  at  their  discretion. 

The  following  Committees  were  apppointed  by  the 
Chair : 

Committee  on  Admissions. 
George  F.  Allen,  Wolcott  Gibbs, 

George  C.  Anthon,  George  T.  Strong, 

Cornelius  R.  Agnew,       J.  Cowper  Lord, 
Robert  L.  Kennedy. 

Standing  Committee. 

George  Griswold,  George  T.  Strong, 

William  C.  Bryant,  Willard  Parker, 

Theodore  W.  Dwioht,  John  C.  Dalton,  Jr., 

Hknrt  W.  Bellows,  Cornelius  R.  Aonbw, 

Wolcott  Gibbs. 

The  meeting  then  adjourned. 

A  special   meeting  of    the    Union   Leagur  of    New 
York  was  held  this  day  (March  6,  1863)  at  the  United 
States  Sanitary  Commission  Rooms,  No.  823  Broadway. 
Present : 
Willard  Parker,  Robert  L.  Krnnidt, 

Charles  King,  Georos  T.  Stkono, 

Charles  D.  Smith,  Wolcott  Gibbs, 

Gkorob  Griswold,  Nahum  Sullivan, 


44  TUB  UfflOff  LEAGUE  CLUB. 

James  McRavi,  George  Gibbs, 

Cornelius  R.  Acnew,  John  C.  Dalton,  Jr., 

Franklin  H.  Delano,  George  Cabot  Ward, 

Samuel  W.  Briocham,  John  A.  Stephens, 

Jonathan  Sturces, 
The  Treasurer,  Secrttary.  and  other*. 

In  the  absence  of  Murray  HofTman,  Chairman,  Pres- 
ident Charles  King  was  called  to  the  Chair. 

The  minutes  of  the  last  meeting  were  read,  and  on 
motion,  approved. 

The  following  communication  was  then  read  by  the 
Secretary : 

"At  *  meeting  of  the  Joint  Committee  of  the  Union 
League  in  New  York,  held  on  Monday,  the  second  day 
of  March,  the  following  Resolutions  were  adopted  and 
Oixlcred  to  be  communicated  to  the  members  of  the 
League  at  the  next  meeting  of  that  Association  : 

"Resolved,  That  the  Joint  Committee  of  the  Union 
League  in  New  York  recommend  that  the  annual  dues 
to  be  paid  by  each  member  of  the  League,  be  the  sum 
of  twenty-five  dollars,  and  that  all  future  members  pay 
an  admission  fee  of  twenty-five  dollars." 

"Resolved,  That  a  Committee  of  five  members  be 
appointed  to  confer  with  similar  committees  of  the 
Union  League  in  Baltimore,  Philadelphia  and  Boston, 
for  the  purpose  of  consultation  upon  the  subject  mat- 
ter of  establishing  some  common  basis  of  action,  with 
power  to  fix  the  time  and  place  of  meeting." 

On  motion,  the  following  resolution  was  then  adopted  : 

"  Resolx'ed,  That  the  annual  dues  of  each  member  of 
the  League,  payable  in  advance,  be  the  sum  of  twenty- 
five  dollars,  instead  of  the  sum  of  ten  dollars  as  here- 
tofore provided,  and  that  all  future  members  pay  an 
admission  fee  of  twenty-five  dollars." 


THE  UNION  LEAGUE  CLUB.  45 

On  motion,  the  Secretary  was  directed  to  issue  a  cir. 
cuiar  to  the  members  of  the  League  and  such  persons 
as  have  been  elected  members,  communicating  a  copy 
of  the  above  resolution. 

John  A.  Stephens,  Jr.,  in  person  tendered  his  resigna- 
tion as  a  member  of  the  League,  and  on  motion,  his 
resignation  was  accepted. 

On  motion,  Robert  B.  Minturn  and  George  Cabot 
Ward  were  appointed  additiona'  members  of  the  Com- 
mittee on  selection  of  a  suitable  ouilding  for  the  League, 
and  the  said  Committee  was  authorized  to  solicit  and 
collect  donations  for  the  objects  of  the  League. 

The  following  list  of  persons  elected  members  of  the 
League  by  the  Committee  on  Admissions  was  read  by 
the  Secretary: 

All  on  printed  list  and  also 

W.  H.  L.  Barnes,  W.  S.  Brown, 

Nahum  Sullivan,  Edward  S.  Bartlitt, 

William  A.  Budd,  William  G.  Kino. 

ADDITIONAL. 

Nominated  by  J.  A.  Stephens,  Jr.: 
Cyrus  W.  Field,  S.  B.  Chittindin, 

Richard  Heckscher,  Benj.  D.  Silliman. 

By  Henry  A.  Smythe: 

Henry  F.  Vail. 
By  Charles  Jenkins: 

E.  Ellxrt  Anderson. 
By  Franklin  H.  Delano: 
John  C.  Cooper,  Edward  Delano, 

James  L.  Kennedy,  Thomas  W.  Oodbm, 

Christian  E.  Detmold,         Newbold  Edoar, 
HiNKY  J.  Brown,  Albert  Bibrstadt, 

.      GlLHRT   L.   BbBKMAN. 


46 


THE  UNION  LEAGUE  CLUB. 


By  Rev.  Dr.  H.  W.  BELLOWS: 

Ho«ATIO    AlLFM,  J.    N.    BALtSTIEU, 


W.   F.  Caky. 
Edwin  J.  Dunning, 
Parki  Godwin, 
GioRcc  Irklaid, 

J.    F.    PlERSON, 

W.    SCHARrCNDr.RO, 

Dorman  B.  Eaton, 
Calvert  Vaux, 

F.  W.  G.  BiiLowi. 
By  Samuel  Wetmore: 
John  T.  Johnston, 

StSPHKN    C.     WiLLIAMt, 

HiNRir  A.  CoiT, 

AtrRCD    PjLL, 

By  Wli.i.iAM   J.    HOPPIN  : 

HtNRr    L.     PiCRMN, 

William  E.  Doix5«, 

G.   Aliinola, 

Edward  Delano, 

Robert  S.   Hone, 

William  Allen   Butler, 

John   D.   Lawson 
By  Charles  King: 

Edmund  Blunt, 

Pbtsr  Cooper. 
By  John  E.  Williams: 

Charles  L.   Brace, 
By  H.  C.  Dorr: 


Elliot  C.  Cowdin, 
Richard  Goodman, 

JoSIAH    IIOWE, 

Pierre  M.  Irvino, 
W.  M.  Pritchard, 
Henrv  T.  Tuckermax, 
Fred.  Townsend, 
E.  B    Youmans, 


James  B.  Johnston, 
Christopher   R    Robert, 
William  E.   boDOE,  Jr., 
John  C.  Green. 

Rer.   Francis  Vinton, 
(IiNRT  D    Sedowice, 
Edward  Oothout, 
Charles  H.  Russell, 
Abram  M.  Cozzeni, 
Henrt  E.   Pierreport, 


George  W.  Blunt, 


Wm.  C.  Russeu 


Henrt  R.  Winthrop, 
Alpred  Jones, 
Samuel  D.  Coubwi, 


Thomas  Hitchcoce, 
Buchanan  Winthrop, 
Jonii  C  Carter, 


THE  UNION  LEAGUE  CLUB. 


47 


John  G.  Adams, 


Chaklks  D. 

By  John  C.  Dalton,  Jr.; 
Henry  B.  Sands, 
Wm.  H.  Carmalt, 
Austin  Flint, 

By  Dr.  Wolcott  GiBBS: 
Lucius  Tuckerman, 
Frederic  Kapp, 
E.  Leutze, 
Samuel  B.  Rugoles, 

By  Francis  Lieber: 

William  Oakey, 
By  Dr.  C.  R.  Agnew  : 

Alfred  C.  Post, 
Benjamin  Lee, 
William  T.  Blodgett, 

By  George  T.  Strong: 

Edward  Penkold, 
John  O.  Stone, 
Ridley  Watts, 
Rev.  Roswell  D.  Hitchcock, 
h.  w.  hubbell, 
Fred.  DePeyster, 
Howard  Potter, 
Charles  H.  Marshall, 
James  F.  Rugoles, 
Robert  H.  McCurdt, 
Alfred  W.  Craven, 
Frederic  Sheldon, 
Bbnj.  W.  Bonnkv, 

Charles  P. 


George  F.  Betts, 

CONGDON. 

William  Dei  mold, 
Luther  R.  Marsh, 
Austin  Flint,  Jr. 

John  E.  Gavit, 
William  O.  Stone, 
Aaron  Frank, 
John  A.  Weeks. 

Philip  Reynolds. 


C.  CoNANT  Foster, 
Char'.es  T.  White, 
Thomas  H.  Faile,  Jr. 


Robert  B.  Min       -.m, 
J.  H.  Hinton, 
Rev.  Sullivan  H.  Westoh, 
,  Walter  L.  Cutting, 
James  F.  DePeyster, 
Seth  B.  Hunt, 
Luther  Bradish, 
Henry  Peters  Gray, 
P.  Remsen  Strong, 
Samuel  T.  Sridmork, 
Jamf.s  G.  Kino, 
Adrian  Ibelin, 
George  N.  Titcb, 

KiRKLAND. 


48  THR  UNION  LEAGUE  CLUB. 

By  George  C.  Anthon  : 

OssiAN  D.  AsMLiY,  A.  D.  F.  Ramdolph, 

W.  O'Bkibn,  E.  H.  Akthur, 

Chakles  G.  Clark,  Thomas  E.  Brown, 

Edward  J.  Warrik. 

By  R.  L.  Kennedy: 

Robert  L.  Stuart. 
By  R.  M.  Hunt: 
Joseph  Howland,  John  Pribstlbt, 

Charles  W.  Elliot. 

In  the  absence  of  any  by-law  dcfininpj  the  power  of 
the  Committee  on  Admissions,  in  rcsp>ect  to  election 
of  individuals  proposed  for  membership  of  the  League, 
■nd  for  the  sole  purpose  of  preventing  present  con- 
troversy in  respect  thereto,  it  was  moved  that  the  per- 
sons, enumerated  in  this  list  of  individuals,  elected  to 
membership  of  the  League  by  the  Committee  on  Ad- 
missions, be  elected  accordingly  ;  which  was  adopted. 

It  was  then  moved  that  the  recommendation  of  the 
Joint  Committee  of  the  League,  as  stated  above,  be 
adopted  ;    which  was  accordingly  carried. 

Upon  motion,  the  Committee  was  ordered  to  consist 
of  fixt  and  to  be  appointed  by  the  Chair. 

The  Treasurer  offered  the  following  Resolution  : 

"  Rtiolvtd,  That  the  Treasurer  be  directed  to  collect 
from  the  members  of  the  League  annu&l  dues  and 
initiation  fees  as  follows  : 

"Twenty-five  Dollars  annual  dues  from  all  persons 
already  members,  who  shall  not  be  required  to  pay 
initiation  fees. 

"  Twenty-five  Dollars  annual  dues,  and  Twenty-five 
Dollars  initiation  fees  from  all  persons,  who  may  become 
members  after  the  meeting  of  this  evening. 


THE  UNIQN  LEAGUE  CLUB.  49 

"Resolved,  That  the  Secretary  furnish  to  the  Treasurer 
the  names  of  such  gentlemen  as  have,  and  may  hereafter 
become  membi^rs  of  the  League."  Which  on  motion, 
was  adopted. 

The  meeting  then  adjourned  subject  to  call  of  the 
Secretary. 

Pursuant  to  notice,  a  meeting  of  the  Union  League  of 
New  York  was  this  day  (March   13th,   1863,)  held  at  the 
Chapel  of  the  New  York  University.     Present: 
Charles  King,  Thomas  Hitchcock, 

Rob't  B.  Minturn,  Woi.cott  Gibbs, 

Edmund  Blunt,  George  Griswold, 

Robert  L.  Kennedy,  George  T.  Strong, 

Richard  Goodman,  John  Priestley, 

Prof.  Dalton,  Cornelius  R.  Acnew, 

F.  H.  Delano,  James  W.  Beekman, 

Alfred  L.  Edwards,  Benj.  Collins, 

The  Secretary,  Treasurer,  and  others. 

On  motion,  Mr.  Charles  King  was  called  to  the  chair. 

The  minutes  of  the  last  meeting  were  read  and 
approved. 

The  Chairman  of  the  Committee  to  procure  a  suitable 
building  for  the  League,  reported  that  the  Committee 
had  not  yet  procured  one.    . 

The  Committee  on  By-Laws  reported  draft  of  By- 
Laws  for  the  government  of  the  League,  which  was 
then  read. 

On  motion,  and  after  the  insertion  of  several  verbal 
amendments,  the  draft  submitted  by  the  Committee  was 
adopted  as  the  By-Laws  of  the  League.  (They  may  be 
found  in  the  first  printed  Report  of  the  Club.*) 

On  motion  it  was  resolved  that  the  By-Laws  be  adopted, 
to  take  effect  at  the  expiration  of  ten  days  after  the 
*  See  Appendix. 


50  THE  VSION  LEAGUE  CLUB. 

League   shall    take    possession    of   the    League    house. 

Which  was  carried. 

•  ••••» 

A  motion  was  made,  that  a  committee  of  seven  mem- 
bers be  appointed,  whose  duty  it  should  be  to  report  at 
the  next  meeting  of  the  League  the  names  of  suitable 
,  persons  for  the  officers  enumerated  in  the  By-Laws. 
This  was  carried,  and  on  motion,  the  following  gentle- 
men were  appointed  such  Committee: 

CcoRCC  Griswold,  Robert  B.   Minturh, 

Franklim   H.   Delano,  Robt   L    Kennkdy, 

John  C   Dalton,  Jr.,  CtoROB  T.  Strong, 

WoLCOTT   GiBBS. 

At  a  meeting  of  the  Union  League  Club  this  day 
(March  20th,  1863.)  held  at  the  Chapel  of  the  New  York 
University,  pursuant  to  notice  to  the  members,  of  whom 
there   was   a    large    attendance,  Mr.  Charles    King    wi» 

called  to  the  chair — 

•  ••••• 

The  Committee  of  seven,  appointed  at  the  last  meet- 
ing to  report  the  names  of  suitable  persons  for  the 
ofnccri  enumerated  in  the  By-Laws,  reported  through 
the  Chairman,  Mr.  Griswold,  the  following  nominationtr 

For    rRF.SIPF.NT. 

Robert  B.  Minturm. 
For  Vice-Prf.sidknts. 

Hon.  MuRRAT  HorrMAN,  Al»x    T.  Stewart, 

Charles  Kino,  Jonathan  Sturok% 
William  H.  Aspinwali^  Mo5Ea  Taylor, 

John  A.   Dix,  Henrt  W.   Bkli.owi, 

Francis  B.  Cuttino,  Willaro  Parker, 

GtORGi  BANCRorT,  Jamm  W.  Beekmak. 

For   SrCRETARY. 
Otie  D.  Swan. 


THE  UNION  LEAGUE  CLUB.  51 

For  Treasurer. 
William  J.  Hoppin. 

For  Executive  Committee. 
Georje  Gp!swold,  George  Cabot  Ward, 

Franklin  H.  Delano,  Thomas  H.  Faile, 

Henry  T.  Tuckerman,  Rob't  ]..  Kennedy, 

William  E.  Dodge,  Jr.,  John  A.  Weeks, 

James  Boorman  Johnston. 

For  Committee  on  Admissions. 
George  F.  Allen,  N.  Pendleton  Hosack, 

Cornelius  R.  Agnew,  Wolcott  Gibbs, 

George  T.  Strong,  Frederic  DePevster, 

Jonathan  Sturges. 

These  gentlemen  were  unanimoust>  elected. 

June    loth,    1863. — At  a  regular  monthly  meeting  of 
the   Union    League   Club,*    held    this    evening  at   the- 
Club  House,  Mr.  John  C.  Green,  one  of  the  Vice-Presi- 
dents, in  the  chair — 
•  •••»» 

Mr.  George  F.  Allen,  Chairman  of  the  Committee 
on  Admissions,  read  the  report  of  the  Committee  rec- 
ommending for  election  as  members  the  following 
gentlemen : 

Samuel  McLean,  Henry  A.  Hurlbut, 

Elijah  T.  Brown,  Sherman  J.  Bacon, 

William  B.  Ross. 

Dr.  Oliver  Johnson,  proposed  by  Geo.  C.  Collins. 
Edw.  Prime,  "  "    Thomas  T.  Sturges. 

E.  Reed  McIi.vaine,        "  "    H.  K.  Bull. 

Rob't  Stuyve3ant,  "  "    J.  H.  Foster. 

Upon  motion,  the  report  was  accepted  and  the  per- 
sons  therein  recommended    for  election  were    elected 
*Sm  pp.  js  and  53  for  chaofe  of  the  name  of  the  Clab. 


52  THE  UNION  LEAGUE  CLUB. 

viva  voce,  the  By-Laws  having  been   first  suspended  by 

unanimous  consent. 

•  ••••• 

The  Chairman  of  the  Committee  on  Admissions  then 
introduced  the  following  Resolution  : 

"Resolved,  That  the  Committee  on  Admissions  have 
power  to  elect  candidates  for  membership,  and  that  so 
much  of  section  eight  of  the  By-Laws,  as  is  inconsistent 
with  the  exercise  of  such  power  by  said  Committee,  be 
suspended  for  the  period  of  ninety  days  from  the  date 
of  this  meeting."  This,  on  motion,  was  unanimously 
adopted. 

Mr.  John  Jay  moved  the  following  Resolution: 

"  Resolved,  That  the  Executive  Committee  be  requested 
to  consider  the  feasibility  of  the  establishment  of  a 
National  Club  and  Club  House  at  Washington,  and 
after  advising  upon  the  subject  with  such  gentlemen  as 
they  may  select  at  Washington,  and  with  the  Lo>al 
Clubs  at  Boston  and  Philadelphia,  report  thereon  at  the 
next  monthly  meeting."     Adopted. 

Upon  motion,  the  weekly  Club  night  was  changed 
from  Wednesday  to  Thursday  evenings. 

A  considerable  difference  of  opinion  had  existed  as 
to  the  name  by  which  the  new  association  should  be 
known.  "National  Club"  was  preferred  by  many  at 
the  outset,  ai  more  expressive  of  it*  objects.  It  was 
feared  that  "Union  League  Club"  was  a  name  likely 
to  confound  it  with  certain  other  organiutions  of  a 
less  comprehensive  character.  The  club,  though  origi- 
nally political,  was  not  intended  to  be  partisan,  or  to 
lend  itself  to  any  party,  except  when  that  party  was 
•trktiy  national  in  its  policy,  and  dangerously  opposed 


THE  UfftON  LEAGUE  CLUB.  S3 

by  a  party,  sectional  and  non-national  in  its  aims.  The 
first  important  paper  of  the  club — "  On  Emigration  " — 
exhibits  the  national  end  and  aim  of  the  association. 
But  the  name  "  Union  League  Club  "  prevailed,  chiefly 
because  it  had  found  favor  and  acquired  meaning  and 
color  in  Philadelphia,  among  men  who  had  the  same 
objects  with  ourselves. 

The  Union  League  Club  had  found  accommodation 
for  itself  in  the  large  and  commanding  building  formerly 
occupied  by  Mr.  Parrish,  on  the  corner  of  17th  Street 
and  Broadway,  fronting  Union  Square.* 

It  was  n  fortunate  s'te  for  the  opening  labors  of  the 
Club — in  full  view  of  one  of  the  chief  places  of  public 
gatherings,  military  reviews  and  popular  demonstra- 
tions ;  easy  of  access,  and  an  advertisement  in  itself  of 
the  existence  and  activity  of  the  association. 


in. 

THE  WORK  OF  THE  CLUB  DURING  THE  WAR. 

On  November  I2th,  1863,  the  Club  had  appointed  a 
committee  of  seven  members  to  adopt  and  prosecute 
such  measures  as  they  should  deem  most  eflectual,  for 
aiding  the  government  in  raising  and  equipping  the 
the  quota  of  volunteers,  to  be  raised  in  the  State  of 
New  York,  pursuant  to  the  proclamation  of  the  Presi- 
dent of  the  United  States.  The  committee  consist- 
ed of  Messrs.  Alexander  Van  Rensselaer,  Le  Grand 
*  See  Appendix. 


54  THE  UNION  LEAGUE  CLUB.  ' 

B.  Cannon,  Sherman  J.  Bacon,  James  A.  Roosevelt, 
Charles  P.  Kirkland,  Elliot  C.  Cowdin  and  George  Bliss, 
to  whom  were  afterwards  added  Jackbon  S.  Scliultz 
and  Edward  Cromwell.  The  committee  finding  other 
and  sufficient  agencies  at  work  in  the  State  to  recruit 
white  regiments,  and  next  to  none  to  enlist  persons 
of  color,  resolved  to  devote  themselvecs  to  the  work 
of  enlisting  colored  men.  Having  obtained  the  neces- 
•ary  authority  from  the  Secretary  of  War,  as  the  Gov- 
ernor of  the  Sta'e  would  not  give  his  authority  or 
sanction,*  they  collected  $18,000  from  the  voluntary  sub- 
scriptions of  members  of  the  Club,  and  set  about  the 
costly  work  of  procuring  colored  recruits.  By  their 
energy,  zeal  and  tact,  within  one  month  from  the  date 
of  their  appointment,  the  committee  had  enlisted  one 
full  colored  regiment  of  one  thousand  and  twenty  men, 
stationed  at  that  time  at  Rikcr's  Island,  and  had  besides 
six  hundred  recruits  in  camp  towards  the  formation  of 
a  second  regiment.  Of  the  character  of  the  men  and 
their  spirit  of  obedience,  it  is  enough  to  say,  that  not 
one  single  man  deserted  during  the  times  these  colored 
regiment!  were  forming,  a  fact  in  marked  contrast  with 
the  experience  of  the  white  rcgimenti.  Considering  that 
the  whole  number  of  negroes  capable  of  bearing  arms 
in  the  State  was  estimated  to  be  only  six  thousand, 
and  that  one  thou<wind  five  hundred  of  these  had 
previously  volunteered  in  regiments  out  of  the  State, 
the  success  of  this  committee,  in  behalf  of  the  Union 
League  Club,  waa  yery  striking.     The  first  regiment  was 


THE  UNION  LEAGUE  CLUB.  55 

known  as  the  20th  Regiment,  U.  S.  Colored  Troops; 
and  the  second,  soon  after  formed,  as  the  26th  Regi- 
ment, U.  S.  Colored  Troops;  a  third  regiment,  the  31st 
Regiment  of  U.  S.  Colored  Troops,  was  afterwards  prin- 
cipally r?ised  by  the  Club.  The  labors  of  Mc  Vincent 
Colyer,  who  was  the  employed  agent  of  the  comiiittee, 
are  very  emphatically  recognized  in  vario,  s  forms  in'  the 
records  cf  the  Club,  and  in  reports  of  its  committees, 
as  well  as  in  addresses  of  the  'Women's  Committee  for 
the  Aid  of  Sick  Soldiers." 

Recalling  the  riots  in  the  early  days  of  July,  1863, 
when  the  negroes  of  New  York  were  pursued  with  an 
ignoratit  but  bloody  hatred  by  the  populace  of  the  city 
— killed  in  the  open  streets,  and  threatened  with  an 
extermination  prevented  only  by  the  heroic  resistance 
offered  by  ti>e  police  of  New  York — we  can  hardly  exag- 
gerate *he  importance  of  the  honor  showered  by  the 
worth  and  patriotism  of  the  city  upon  the  negro  regi- 
ments raised  by  the  Union  League  Club.  The  wise 
and  costly  sacrifices  made  by  menr.bers  of  the  Club  in 
raising  these  regiments,  instructed  the  public  sentiment 
of  the  country,  and  was  a  most  importa  indication 
of  the  new  and  powerful  current  which  finally  swelled 
into  general  emancipation.  The  hatred  and  co..tempt 
of  the  colored  man,  felt  by  the  lower  class  of  our  white 
emigrants,  was  always  a  perilous  agent  in  creating  the 
votes  that  upheld  the  rebr'!ion,  or  discouraging  the  gov- 
ernment in  quelling  it.  1..e  New  York  anti-negro  riots 
had  spread  abroad  and  at  home  a  fear  that  elements  of 
explosion  existed  in  the  metropolis  of  the  country  which 


$6  THE   UNION  LEAGUE  CLUB. 

would  not  bear  bold  handling.  It  was  industriously 
said  that  wc  had  enough  to  do  to  protect  our  live* 
and  property  from  discontented  and  desperate  men  at 
home,  to  prevent  us  from  putting  forth  a  competent 
vigor  in  suppression  of  distant  rebellion.  But  when  the 
wealth  and  commercial  enterprise  and  social  dignity  of 
the  City  of  New  York,  so  largely  represented  in  the 
Union  League  Club,  devoted  its  first  voluntary  contri- 
bution to  raising  and  equipping  three  negro  regiment* 
in  swift  succession;  when  the  ladies  of  New  York  asked 
the  use  of  the  Club  House  for  the  presentation  of  an 
elegant  stand  of  colors,  which  was  publicly  delivered 
to  the  regiment  with  great  pomp  and  enthusiasm,  and 
when  •  thousand  citizens  accompanied  the  regiment  in 
procession  to  Its  place  of  embarkation  for  the  seat  of 
war,  amid  a  universal  demonstration  of  popular  enthu- 
siasm, rarely  exhibited  in  any  pageant  of  the  war  times. 
it  was  justly  felt  that  the  metropolis  of  the  Nation  had 
deteftnined  to  stamp  out  the  inhuman  sentiment  of  hos- 
tility to  the  colored  man,  and  to  encourage  the  rising  sen- 
timent of  enlisting  the  negroes  as  regular  troops  in  the 
war  for  Union  and  Liberty,  which  slavery  had  brought 
upon  the   Nation. 

The  joth  Regiment,  on  the  morning  of  its  embarkation 
for  New  Orleans,  (March  5th,  1864).  landed  at  the  foot 
of  26th  Street,  Last  River,  and  marched  to  the  Club 
House,  where  it  received  its  colors.  Hon.  Charles  King 
President  of  Columbia  College,  in  the  name  of  loyal 
women,  who  were  present  in  brilliant  numbers,  pre- 
sented the  colon  in  a  speech  of  deep  pathos,  and  then 


THE  UNION  LEAGUE  CLUB.  $7 

handed  the  officers  and  men  an  address,  which  had 
been  prepared  by  Mr.  Henry  T.  Tuckerman,  engrossed 
on  parchment,  and  signed  by  one  hundred  and  thirty-five 
of  the  ladies  of  New  York,  best  known  in  society  and 
philanthropy — "  Mothers,  wives,  and  sisters  of  the 
members  of  the   New  York  Union  League  Club."* 

The  26th  Regiment  of  U.  S.  Colored  Troops  were  to 
have  received  a  similar  ovation,  but  the  day  proved  so 
stormy  (March  26th)  that  the  plan  was  dropped.  Their 
colors  were,  however,  presented  on  board  the  transport 
which  took  them  to  Annapolis,  the  x^^rX  day  by  Hon. 
John  Jay,  who  presented  also  an  address,  the  same,  and 
from  the  same  ladies,  that  had  been  presented  to  the 
20th   Regiment. 

When  nearly  three  companies  of  the  31st  Regiment 
U.  S.  Colored  Troops  had  been  recruited,  they  were 
suddenly  ordered  away  to  join  the  Ninth  Corps  in  the 
Army  of  the  Potomac.  They  were  soon  -ronsolidated 
with  about  three  hundred  men  raised  in  Connecticut, 
and  lost  heavily  at  the  battle  of  the  Crater.  The  regi- 
ment was  finally  filled  up  to  the  full  quota  of  men  by 
the  Union  League  Club,  and  had  a  distinguished  record 
in  the  far  South.  Of  each  of  these  regiments,  a  mili- 
tary record  of  an  honorable  kind  might  be  furnished, 
had  we  space  to  enter  it  in  this  condensed  history, 
without  violating  due  proportion. 

Almost  from  the  very  beginning,  the  Union  League 
Club  had  become  a  centre  of  all  movements  having 
a  patriotic   impulse  in  the  City  of   New  York.    Thus 

*  Sm  Appendlz. 


S8  THE  VStON  LEAGUE  CLUB. 

m  November,  1863,  the  President  of  the  Sanitary 
Commission  was  allowed  the  use  of  the  Club  House 
to  convene  an  assembly  of  about  a  hundred  of  the 
most  patriotic  women  in  New  York  to  consider  the 
best  method  for  starting  the  plan  of  a  Metropoli- 
tan Fair.  Under  the  au<5piccs  of  these  ladies,  it 
was  inaugurated  in  the  following  March,  and  realized 
the  enormous  sum  of  over  a  million  of  dollars  for  the 
use  of  the  United  States  Sanitary  Commission,  in  its 
National  scheme  for  the  prevention  and  care  of  sick- 
ness, and  the  nursing  of  the  wounded  in  the  army  and 
navy.  The  generosity  of  the  people  in  furnishing  the 
materials  of  this  fair,  in  which  all  trades  and  occupa- 
tions exhibited  a  noble  rivalry,  was  largely  inspired  by 
the  patriotic  zeal  of  women  whose  husbands,  brothers, 
sons,  were  members  of  this  Club;  and  the  success  of 
the  fair  was  not  only  a  most  encouraging  evidence  of 
the  growing  devotion  of  this  community  to  the  soldiers 
engaged  in  fighting  the  battle  for  the  Union,  but  it 
set  an  example  of  cooperative  and  efTcctive  zeal  in  the 
support  of  the  Sanitary  Commission,  that  was  followed 
by  all  large  communities  through  the  country,  after  the 
pattern  of  the  Metropolitan  Fair,  and  filled  the  treasury 
of  the  peoples'  great  charity  of  healing,  to  a  height  that 
never  fell  below  the  necessities  of  that  costly  enterprise. 
The  necessity  to  the  American  people  of  the  Na- 
tional Union  had  been  systematically  urged  on  the' 
public  by  the  "  Loyal  Publication  Society,"  composed 
mostly  of  those  who  afterward  became  members  of 
this    Club,    before    its   organization.       Rut    in    carrying 


THE  UffiON  LEAGUE  CLUB.  59 

out  the  ninth  article  of  the  By-Laws,  which  provided 
for  a  Committee  on  Publications,  Messrs.  James  A. 
Roosevelt,  George  Cabot  Ward,  James  M.  Cross, 
George  W.  Blunt  and  Henry  E.  Clark,  were  ap- 
pointed a  special  committee  to  collect  funds  for  the 
diffusion  of  loyal  sentiments  through  *he  Loyal  Publi- 
cation Society  of  New  York.  They  accordingly  raised 
more  than  $3,000,  which  was  devoted  to  this  excel- 
lent object. 

The  Protective  War  Claim  Association,  organized  by 
members  of  this  Club,  though  not  under  its  control, 
had  the  generous  patronage  and  active  sympathy  of 
the    Union   League. 

The  freedom  of  the  Club  was  offered  in  November, 
1863,  to  the  Union  members  of  both  houses  of  Con- 
gress, and  to  all  officers  of  the  army  and  navy,  and 
they  were  invited  to  make  the  Club  the  custodian  of 
any  mementoes  of  the  rebellion,  such  as  colors  taken 
in  the  war,  which  they  might  think  would  find  a  wider 
exhibition  and  exert  a  more  enlivening  influence  there, 
than   elsewhere. 

T^e  patriotic  influence  of  the  Association  was  not 
confined  to  its  formal  activity  in  the  days  when  every 
loyal  man  among  its  members  felt  himself  a  sentinel, 
in  watch  of  an  enemy  likely  to  spring  up  in  unex- 
pected quarters,  and  requiring  to  be  dealt  with  sum- 
marily. Thus,  during  the  riots  in  1863,  which  took 
the  place  of  the  insurrection  planned  by  the  enemy, 
with  its  sympathizers  in  New  York  City,  to  come  ofT 
on  the  4th  of  July  in  case  of  General  Meade's  defeat — 


Co  THE  UNION  LEAGUE  CLUB. 

a  defeat  which  took  the  form  of  a  glorious  victory  for 
the  Union — many  of  the  members  were  actively  em- 
ployed day  and  night  in  encouraging  and  sustaining 
the  military,  civil  and  municipal  officers  in  crushing 
the  rioters,  and  all  hope  of  a  successful  Northern  in- 
surrection against  liberty,  nationality,  and  law.  We  can 
never  cease  to  recall  with  pride  the  part  that  Mr. 
Thomas  C.  Acton  and  Mr.  Ktn.:-dy  (our  members)  the 
leaders  of  the  police  of  this  city,  took,  in  that  most 
critical  season  for  our  national  cause.  The  name  of  Col. 
Harvey  Brown,  who  stood  by  the  police  so  sturdily,  is 
not   to  be  omitted  in  this  connection. 

At  this  time  our  members  numbered  five  hundred  and 
thirty.  Judicious  eflTorts  were  made  to  render  the  Club 
House  attractive  by  establishing  a  restaurant ;  by  im- 
proving the  festive  character  of  the  weekly  Thursday 
meetings;  by  adding  new  periodicals,  domestic  and  for- 
eign, to  the  reading  room  ;  by  a  plan  for  establishing 
a  club  library — since  carried  out ;  by  embellishing  the 
Club  House  with  portraits  of  leading  generals  and 
•tatesmcn,  and  a  few  pictures  presented  by  members. 
A  registry  of  army  and  navy  officers  visiting  New  York 
was  kept  in  a  separate  volume  in  the  reception  room. 
Distinguished  advocates  of  the  American  cause  in  Eu- 
rope, such  as  Cobden  and  Bright,  Goldwin  Smith,  Caimc, 
Foster,  Gasparin  and  Laboulaye,  were  advised  of  the 
existence  and  labors  of  the  Club,  and  of  the  welcome 
they,  or  any  of  their  friends,  would  meet  on  coming 
to  New  York. 

So  useful  was  the  Club,  and  so    great   its  opportuni. 


^^.•, 


THE  UNION  LEAGUE  CLUB.  6 1 

ties,  that  it  was  accounted  a  patriotic  duty  to  increase 
its  membership,  not,  however,  without  extreme  care  to 
admit  only  men  of  unconditional  loyalty  and  personal 
worth.  The  report  of  the  Executive  Committee,  July. 
1864,  ends  with  the  following  stirring  words,  in  further- 
ance of  a  recommendation  to  increase  the  number  of 
the  members  to  one  thousand  by  the  active  personal 
labors  of  the  existing  constituency. 

— In  conclusion,  the  Executive  Committee  beg  leave 
to  express  their  conviction  that  such  an  effort,  unani- 
mously made,  will  be  certainly  successful.  It  will  be 
materially  assisted  by  the  recent  improvement  of  the 
internal  economy  of  the  Club  House  in  supplying  a 
restaurant,  the  want  of  which  thu?  far  told  sensibly 
against  it. 

The  intelligent  citizens  of  New  York  have  begun  to 
appreciate  greatly  the  practical  assistance,  so  quietly, 
but  effectually  rendered  by  this  Association  to  the  Gov- 
ernment in  the  enlistment  of  troops,  as  well  as  in  the 
moral  influence  which  they  have  already  exerted  in 
elevating  the  tone  of  public  sentiment,  and  correctin-j 
that  semi-loyalty,  to  call  it  by  no  harsher  name,  which 
until  recently  pervaded  social  circles  that  claimed  to 
be  respectable,  and  which,  through  their  influence,  has 
prolonged  the  war  and  complicated  our  position,  by 
deceiving  not  only  the  rebel  leaders  at  Richmond,  but 
their  sympathizing  friends  and  press  in  Europe.  The 
whole  country  now  understands  that  upon  the  devo- 
tion of  the  people  to  the  honor  and  integrity  of  the 
republic,  regardlesc  alike  of  local  interests  and  party 
ties,  depends  the  early  triumph  of  the  American  cause, 
and  that  the  purification  of  the  social  circles  of  thU 
the  National  metropolis,  will  tend  more  than  anything 


03  THE  UmOS  LEAGUE  CLUB. 

el»e  to  brighten  everywhere  the  National  atmosphere. 
Let  it  be  distinctly  understood  that  any  sympathy  with 
the  rebellion,  which  is  striving  to  destroy  our  country-, 
affixes  here  a  stigma,  under  which,  men  shall  shrink 
from  public  gaze,  and  dread  the  inevitable  frown  of 
our  higher  circles;  and  disloyalty  will  nowhere  flaunt 
itself,  as  hitherto,  with  a  boldness  that  was  at  once  an 
insult  and  an  outrage,  not  alone  to  the  hundreds  of 
thousands  of  families  whom  the  rebellion  has  caused 
to  mourn,  but  to  every  man  whose  love  of  country  is 
broad  enough  to  embrace  in  its  integrity  the  American 
republic. 

All  of  which  is  respectfully  submitted. — 

ClORCC    GtlSWOLD, 
Ckmrmtn  >/ Ikt  EsK»ltf  CtwtmiBn. 

The  following  were  the  officers  for  1864: 
President. 
JoMATHAM  SrvaoES. 
Vice-Presidents. 

MuaxAT  HorfMAN,  Willaip  Farkik, 

CNAiLifl  KiHO,  ALixAMni*  T.  Stiwait, 

John  C    Gkkn.  Jamcs  W.  Biikmam, 

HtHir  W.  BtLLOvi,  Gioaot  BANcaorT, 

Fbanci*  B.  Cuttiko,  David  Hoadlit. 

Secretakv. 

Otis    D.    Swaw. 

Treasurer. 

William  J.  Horrin. 

Executive  Committee. 

Gioaoi  GaiswoLD,  Rokit  I.txos  KixuKDr, 

Gioaot  Camt  Wabd,  William  E.  Dodoi,  Jr., 

Frarklir  H.  Dilamo,  Jonn  a    Wbbki, 


THE  UNION  LEAGUE  CLUB.  63 

James  Boorman  Johnston,     John  Jay, 
Henry  L.  Pierson,  Henry  E.  Clark, 

Frank  E.  Howe,  David  Van  Nostrand, 

Oeorob  W.  Blunt,  Theodore  Roosevelt, 

Richard  M.  Hunt, 
The  Stcr,:,  iry  and  Treasuret,  ex'Officio, 

Committee  on  Admissions. 
George  T.  Strong,  Thomas  H.  Fails, 

N.  Pendleton  Hosack,  Sheppard  Gandv, 

Cornelius  R.  Agnew,  Dudley  B.  Fuller, 

Christian  E.  Devmold, 
The  Secretary  and  Treasurer,  ex-officio. 

House  Committee. 

Gboroe  Griswold,  Franklin  H.  Delano, 

John  A.  Weeks. 

Invitation  Committee. 

Frank  E.  Howe,    '  Georoe  W.  Blunt, 

David  Van  Nostrand. 

Library  Committee. 
Samuel  Osgood,  Albert  Mathews, 

ViNCENZO    BOTTA. 

The  prosperity  of  the  Club  at  the  first  annual  meeting, 
January  13th,  1864,  (the  Club  not  being  then  quite  a 
year  old)  may  be  inferred  from  the  following  facts 
found  in  William  J.  Hoppin,  the  Treasurer's  report. 
The  aggregate  receipts  from  all  sources  were  $27,474  54; 
the  disbursements  $25,028  43.  The  dues,  originally 
$10,  had  been  raised  to  $25  per  year,  and  later  to  $50; 
and  the  diffeience  though  not  exacted  from  the  older 
members  was  voluntarily  paid  up  by  nritny,  from  a  sense 


64  THE   UNION  LEAGUE  CLUB. 

of  fairness  to  later  comers.  The  Treasurer  reported  a 
donation  of  |i,ooo  from  George  Griswoid,  Chairman  of 
the  Executive  Committee,  to  wliosc  gcncronity  the  Club 
was  indebted  for  the  flag-stafT  and  flags  that  surmounted 
their  building.  The  Club  was  out  of  debt ;  the  rent 
paid,  to  the  first  of  May  ;  a  balance  in  the  Treasury  of 
$3,446  II.  The  Treasurer  concludes  his  report  with  the 
following  significant  question  which  neatly  involves  the 
ethics  of  the  Club :  "Inasmuch  as  when  a  candidate  is 
proposed,  we  ask  no  questions  about  his  parentage  or 
wealth,  or  position  in  fashionable  society;  but  simply 
these  two.  Is  he  honest?  Is  he  Loyal?  can  we  doubt 
that  with  proper  exertions,  we  shall  have  at  our  next 
annual  meeting  at  least  twice  as  many  names  as  we  have 
on  our  rolls  at  present  ?  " 

In  Mr.  Vincent  Colycr's  report  to  the  Committee  on 
Volunteering,  among  the  examples  of  the  moral  in- 
fluence of  this  Club  is  reckoned  deservedly  that  of  hav- 
ing broken  up  the  long  existing  practice  of  denying  to 
colored  people  the  unrestricted  use  of  our  city  railroad 
cars,  upon  the  usual  terms.  A  flagrant  case  of  the 
forcible  ejectment  of  a  Mr*.  Andervon,  widow  of  a 
Sergeant  in  the  36th  Regiment  of  U.  S.  Colored 
Volunteer!,  having  been  repjrted  to  Mr.  Colyer,  it 
reached  the  knowledge  of  the  Club.  The  President 
laid  it  before  William  Curtis  Noyes,  Fsq.,  who  con- 
sented to  take  charge  of  the  case  before  the  courts,  free 
of  cost.  Tkt  Exfning  Pctt,  Trtbunt,  and  Timtt,  de- 
nounced the  ejection  and  the  rule  under  which  it  was 
mcde  by  the  conductor,  as  an  outrage.     The  police  tried 


THE  UyiOy  LEAGUE  CLUB.  6$ 

the  case  of  the  patrolman  whom  the  conductor  had 
Bummoned  to  his  help  in  expelhng  Mrs.  Anderson.  Mr. 
Thoma*  C.  Acton,  prcsidinf;,  ruled  that  the  officerR  of 
the  Police  had  no  right  to  aid  conductors  in  this  fanner 
and  for  this  purpose.  The  Eighth  Avenue  Railroad 
Company,  f^.nding  public  opinion  and  the  police  against 
it,  withdrew  the  rule  restricting  the  colored  people  to 
special  cars.  It  was  soon  followed  by  the  other  city 
railroads,  and  one  more  step  of  progress  was  recorded  in 
the  Emancipation  of  the  negro  from  social  prejudices; 
one  more  victory  for  common  human  rights. 

On  the  t4th  of  April,  1864,  at  a  regular  monthly 
meeting,  Mr.  George  Cabot  Ward  offered  the  following 
Preamble  and  Resolution  : 

W/urcas,  There  is  reason  to  believe  that  the  in- 
creasing emigration  from  Europe  to  the  United  States, 
naturally  induced  by  the  law  of  supply  and  demand, 
may  be  facilitated  and  rendered  more  beneficial  to  all 
parties  by  the  diffusion  of  correct  information,  and  by 
the  establishment  of  agencies  through  which  the  various 
classes  of  employers  in  America  may  obtain  the  par- 
ticular operatives  they  require,  with  a  proper  guarantee 
of  their  ability  and  moral  character ;  therefore 

Resolved,  That  a  committee  of  seven  be  appointed  to 
consider  carefully  this  subject  in  its  various  phases  and 
to  report  their  views  thereon  t'  *.his  Club  at  its  next 
general  meeting. 

The  Chair  appointed  George  Cabot  Ward,  John  Jay, 
William  H.  Osborn,  Horatio  Allen,  William  E.  Dodge, 
John  G.  Holbrook  and  Sherman  J.  Bacon,  members  of 
this  Committee.  On  Thursday,  May  I3th,  1864,  Mr.  Jay 
read  an  elaborate  report  on  this  subject,  which  the  Club 


66  THE  UNION  LEAGUE  CLUB. 

thought  important  enough  to  order  published,  and  3, $00 
copies  were  struck  off  and  put  in  circulation.  It  is  the 
first  document  in  the  two  volumes  of  papers  bound 
up  togctiicr  under  the  general  title,  "  Union  League, 
New  York."  and  is  in  the  Library  of  the  Club.  This 
movement  may  remind  us  of  the  largeness  of  the 
•cope  which  was  taken  by  the  early  members  of  tl  is 
Association. 

The  second  annual  meeting  of  the  Club  was  held  on 
January  iith,  1865.  The  Executive  Committee  10- 
portcd  an  increase  of  the  membership  from  five  hun- 
dred and  thirty  to  upwards  of  eight  hundred.  The 
members  of  the  Club  had  taken,  individually  and' 
collectively,  a  very  active  part  in  the  momentous 
national  election  of  November,  1864.  Composed  as 
it  was  of  members  from  both  political  parties,  with 
whom  great  national  questions  at  a  critical  juncture 
had  superseded  all  party  preferences— the  election  o( 
the  representatives  of  the  unity  of  the  Nation  and 
the  destruction  of  the  slave  power  was  not  felt  to  be  a 
party  question,  but  one  of  national  life  and  death.  The 
Club  unanimously  resolved,  October  27th,  ifVv^.  that 
•  committee  from  the  association  be  appointed  to  use 
the  influence  of  the  Club  during  the  Presidential  cam- 
paign for  the  success  of  the  Union  cause  ;  and,  with 
similar  unanimity,  it  was  resolved  "That  all  the  mem. 
bers  of  the  Club  be  appointed  such  contmittee."  The 
elder  members  of  the  Club  will  recall  the  midnight 
meeting,  informal  of  course,  on  November  8th,  when 
a    numerous    body  of    our  members    awaited    the  tele- 


THE  UNIOS'  LEAGUE  CLUB.  67 

graphic  returns  of  the  national  election  in  our  Club 
House,  and  did  not  retire  until  four  o'clock  in  the 
morning,  which  brought  full  assurance  that  the  Union 
candidates  liad  triumphed,  and,  in  their  triumph,  given 
death  to  the  rebellion,  and  life  to  the  nation. 

For  an  unpartisan  Club  to  become  an  active  political 
body  was  not  diPBcult,  so  long  as  national  questions, 
were  all  engrossing — questions  not  of  taxation,  finance,, 
internal  improvements  or  tariffs,  but  questions  of  the 
honoi-  of  the  flag,  the  integrity,  of  the  National  terri- 
tory, and  the  rights  of  the  Government  to  protect  and 
save  the  fundamental  institutions  of  the  country.  All 
who  opposed  this  policy  were  for  the  time  aliens  and 
foreigners,  and  were  to  be  put  down  not  as  democrats, 
federalists,  free-traders  or  protectionists,  but  as  un- 
American,  disloyal  and  dangerous.  It  is  not  too  much 
to  say  that  the  old  Democratic  party  still  held  some 
lineal  children  of  Andrew  Jackson,  willing  to  swear  by 
the  Eternal,  that  secession  or  disunion  should  be  crush- 
ed out,  be  it  called  black  Republicanism  or  sound 
Democracy,  and  that  the  Union  League  owed  some  of 
its  fibres  to  the  sinews  of  such  Democrats,  and  ha» 
continued  to  do  so  to  this  day. 

On  February  nth,  1864,  the  Club  received  Major-Gen. 
Hancock,  who  had  come  to  New  York  to  recruit  the 
Second  Corps,  and  at  his  request  it  appointed  the  fol- 
lowing committee  to  assist  in  the  work :  George  Bliss, 
Jr.,  Theo.  Roosevelt,  George  Cabot  Ward,  Parker 
Handy,  Stephen  Hyatt,  Alfred  M.  Hoyt,  James  T. 
Swift,  Jackson  S.  Schultr,  J.  S.  Williams,  WilUam  H. 


68  THE  UNtOff  LKACVE  CLUB. 

Fogg.  W.  A.  Murdock,  George  A.  Fellows,  Dudley  B. 
Fuller,  James  M.  Halstcad,  George  C.  Satterlee,  Tim- 
othy G.  Churchill,  Moscf  H.  Grinnell.  On  October 
Ijth,  1864.  this  committee  reported  that  it  had  raised 
in  money,  by  donations,  (40,000,  and  received  from 
five  hundred  and  seventy-five  gentlemen,  for  the  pur- 
pose of  obtaining  substitutes,  $230,000.  The  commit- 
tee had  recruited  as  volunteers  or  substitutes  3,159 
men,  which,  added  to  the  number  of  the  colored  reg- 
iments, made  the  total  of  troops  put  in  the  field  by 
the  Club  that  year  (1864)  about  6,cx»  men. 

On  March  loth,  1864,  Rev  Jo-  P.  Thompson,  D  D., 
gave  an  elaborate  and  statesmanlike  discourse  before  the 
Club,  entitled  "  Revolution  against  a  Free  Government 
not  •  Right,  but  •  Crime,"  which  was  heartily  received 
by  those  who  heard  it,  and  afterward!  published  by  the 
association.  His  recent  death  enables  i:*  to  add  that 
hit  earnest  patriotism,  unqualified  loyalty  and  ^ifts  of 
speech,  as  well  u  his  tried  and  known  character,  gave 
him  an  influence  in  the  early  years  of  the  Club,  which 
deserves  a  permanent  and  distinguished  record,  even  in 
the  briefest  history  of  its  work. 

On  March  31st  •  special  meeting  of  the  Club  was  held 
to  consider  a  bill  pendmg  before  the  United  Slates 
Senate,  providing  for  the  voluntary  enlistment  of  persons 
resident  in  the  States  of  Virginia,  North  Carolina,  South 
Carolina.  Georgia.  Florida.  Alabama,  Mississippi,  Lou- 
isiana. Texas  or  Arkansas — into  the  regiments  of  other 
State*.  After  a  full  discussion,  a  committee  consisting 
of    John    Jay,    Levi    A.  Dowley,    George   Cabot  Ward, 


THE  UNIOK  (.EACVE  CLUB.  69 

David  Van  Nostrand  and  George  W.  Blunt,  was  ap> 
pointed  to  proceed  to  Wasliington  and  urge  its  passage; 
a  duty  they  promptly  fulfilled.  The  bill  was  enacted, 
and  in  consequence  numerous  enlistments  of  colored 
men  in  the  Rebel  States  were  made  on  account  of  the 
quotas  of  the  Loyal  States. 

On  November  loth,  1864,  a  large  committee*  was 
appointed,  of  which  the  following  constituted  the  Execu- 
tive Committe,  to  provide  the  soldiers  in  the  field  with  a 
Thanksgiving  dinner. 

Gkorcb  W.  Blunt,    .  Chairman, 

Stephen  Hyatt,  Jackson  S.  Schultz, 

Parker  Handy,  Charles  H.  Marshall, 

Timothy  G.  Churchill,         Theodore  Roosevelt, 
Levi  a.  Dowley,  George  Bliss,  Jr. 

The  late  Mr.  George  W.  Blunt,  the  memory  of  whose 
nnarked  individuality,  courage  and  patriotism,  is  yet 
living  In  the  Club,  was  among  the  most  earnest  pro- 
moters, if  not  the  first  proposer,  of  this  scheme.  It 
was  justly  deemed  ihat  away  from  their  homes  in 
the  service  of  the  country,  the  evidence  that  they 
were  remembered  on  the  day  specially  consecrated 
to  home  gatherings  and  domestic  abundance,  and 
made  partakers  in  its  festivity,  would  strengthen  their 
patriotism.  Moreover,  it  afforded  these  who  profited  by 
their  sacrifices,  an  opportunity  of  expressing  their  grati- 
tude and  watchfulness  over  them.  The  undertaking,  it 
was  felt,  must  owe  its  expressiveness  and  value  to  the 
thorough  comprehensiveness  of  the  plan.  The  fowl  that 
Franklin  suggested  should  be  substituted  for  the  Eagle,- 
*  See  Appendix. 


TO  THE  UNION  LEAGUE  CLUB. 

u  the  National  bird,  and  certainly  the  most  welcome 
and  customary  of  all  edibic5  on  the  National  Thankv 
giving;  Day,  was  made  typical  in  this  plan.  By  the 
cooperation  of  one  of  the  largest  dealers  in  poultry  (Mr. 
E.  Robbins,  who  freely  surrendered  all  his  commissions 
and  profits)  the  vastness  of  the  demand  for  turkeys  was 
met  with  amazing  promptness.  On  December  8th  the 
Committee  reported  that  it  had  collected  in  money 
$56,36;  83  ;  had  sent  to  the  Army  of  the  Shenandoah 
49,814  turkeys;  to  the  Atlantic  Squadron  30,300;  to  the 
Armies  of  the  Potomac  and  James  225,000  pounds  of 
turkey,  besides  a  vast  amount  of  poultry,  doughnuts 
and  other  cakes,  apples,  preserved  fruits,  cheese,  etc. — 
contributed  from  the  interior  of  the  country.  Lar)ge 
parcels  and  crates  of  these  dainties  were  sent  also  to 
Newbem.  Willcts  Point,  St.  Luke's  }{ospital.  Fort 
Richmond,  Fort  Lafayette,  Fort  Hamilton,  Fort  Schuy- 
ler, Hospital  Battery,  Central  Park  Hospital,  Rcdloe's 
Island,  Governor's  Island,  Navy  Yard,  Ship  Vermont, 
Steamer  Dictator,  Sandy  Hook  Battery,  etc.  Gen.  Grant 
had  furnished  Capt.  Theodore  B.  Bronson,  charged  with 
carrying  the  feast  to  the  Army  of  the  Potomac,  with 
a  letter  that  facilitated  its  rapid  distribution  ;  and 
Col.  George  F.  Noyes  went  to  the  Army  of  the  Shenan- 
doah. Probably  a  Thanksgiving  tabic,  stretched  over 
so  many  States,  and  extending  into  »o  many  comers, 
was  never  before  spread  by  one  set  of  hosts,  at  so  great 
a  cost,  in  so  short  a  time,  under  so  many  difficulties,  and 
•with  such  magnificent  success  ;  perhaps  never  was  sur- 
rounded  by   so    many    touched    and   grateful    hearts,   or 


THE  UNION  LEAGUE  CLUB.  7 1 

accompanied  with  such  prayers  and  blessings  from  anx- 
ious and  loving  lips  at  distant  homes.  'There  was  a 
touch  of  sentiment  in  this  enterprise,  costly  and  laborious 
as  it  was,  that  merits  the  special  place  we  give  its  history 
in  this  record  of  the  Club's  life  arid  deeds.  It  is  due  to 
the  memory  of  our  lamented  fellow-m-mber,  Theodore 
Roosevelt,  to  say  that  his  zeal  and  labor  in  behalf  of 
this  enterprise,  so  congenial  to  the  beautiful  union  oi 
domestic  and  public  virtues  in  his  character,  contributed 
greatly  to  its  success. 

The  Union  League  Club  during  the  war  carefully 
improved  every  opportunity  of  honoring  merit  and 
services  by  welcoming  with  formal  exercises,  or  informal 
hospitality,  all  officers  of  the  Army  and  Navy,  who  had 
won  the  public  notice,  and  came  within  the  reach  of  its 
attentions.  Generals  Franklin,  Hooper,  Butler  and  Gen. 
Cutl  r  of  Wisconsin,  were  thus  received;  also  Admiral 
Dupont  and  Commodore  Rogers  ;  Lieutenant  Cushing, 
after  the  heroic  act  that  destroyed  the  Albemarle; 
Captain  Winslow,  after  the  memorable  fight  of  the 
Kearsarge  with  the  Alabama.  Vice-Admiral  Farragut 
unexpectedly  added  his  welcome  presence  to  that  of  the 
brilliant  assembly  of  ladies  and  gentlemen  that  had  been 
called  together  by  the  energetic  Committee  of  Recep- 
tion to  make  Capt.  Winslow's  welcome  as  emphatic  and 
grateful  as  possible. 

Nor  were  civilians  of  eminence  forgotten.  Gov.  An- 
drew, Senator  Sherman,  Gov.  Fcnton,  Gov.  Curtin,  Gov. 
Fletcher  of  Missouri,  and  the  Hon.  Messrs.  Blow  and 
Drake   of   the  .^me  great  State,  were  each   received 


7'  THE  UNION  LEAGUE  CLUB. 

with  marked  attention  and  gratitude  for  services  ren- 
dered to  the  cause  of  Union  and  Liberty.  A  iword 
wai  presented  by  membcn  of  the  Club  to  Vice-AdmiraJ 
Farragut  in  memory  of  daring  exploits  at  New  Orleana 
and   Mobile. 

A  brilliant  breakfast,  which  brought  together  an  ex- 
traordinary number  of  public  men  and  patriotic  spirits, 
was  given  by  the  Club  to  Prof.  Goldwin  Smith,  Regius 
Professor  of  Modern  History  at  Oxford,  in  honor  of 
hif  intelligent  sympathy  with  the  Unionists  and  advo> 
easy  of  the  American  cause  before  the  English  people, 
among  whom,  and  especially  in  literary  and  cultivated 
circles,  a  sentiment  of  hostility  to  the  Union,  and  of 
ill-founded  encouragement  to  the  rebellion  had  pre- 
vailed. As  the  war  was  just  over,  this  occasion  was 
made  a  sort  of  jubilee,  and  in  connection  with  the 
success  of  our  diplomacy  in  warding  off  the  then  im- 
minent danger  of  intervention  on  the  part  of  England, 
Prof.  Smith  received  an  ovation  which  added  emphaais 
to  the  protest,  the  country  had  continually  made  against 
the  misapprrhennion,  that  had  infected  English  statev 
men  and  publicists,  as  to  the  rights  of  the  Union — a 
misapprehension,  they  so  much  honored  Goldwin  Smith 
for  having  escaped  himself,  and  done  so  much  to  dis- 
pel in  others.  Some  clergymen  of  New  York  and 
Brooklyn,  who  had  been  at  least  as  active  as  any  lay- 
men in  the  cause  of  the  war,  were  among  the  spok«*- 
men  of  this  brilliant  breakfast,  and  some  sallies  of  wit 
provoked  by  an  impertinent  reference  to  their  uncleri- 
cal  leal,  are  still  recalled  by  the  fortunate  participatora 
In  that  lively  and  joyous  occasion. 


THE  UNIOti  LEAGUE  CLUB.  73 

Special  efforts  were  made  this  year  in  continuance 
of  the  movement  for  adorning  the  Club  House  with 
portraits  of  national  men,  and  with  representatives  of 
oamp  scenes  and  Incidents  of  the  war,  Mr.  George  P. 
Putnam,  Richard  M.  Hunt,  and  William  T.  Blodi,ett 
were  a  special  committee  appointed  io  take  charge  of 
this  department  of  art.  The  committee  early  suggested 
the  desirableness  of  giving  a  special  character  to  the 
art  collection  of  this  Club,  namely,  a  patriotic  an(l 
historical  motive,  in  which  the  purpose  should  be  to 
preserve  and  perpetuate,  by  the  aid  of  art,  the  mem- 
ory of  the  great  struggle  that  had  saved  and  recreated 
the  Union  and  the  Nation.  !♦:  is  not  wholly  out  of 
place  here  to  say,  that  this  sound  advice  has  some- 
times fallen  in'o  oblivion,  to  the  injury  of  the  charac- 
teristic interests  of  the  Club.  It  should  unquestionably, 
both  in  its  library  and  art  collection,  persistently  culti- 
vate the  specialty  of  Loyalty  and  Union,  by  carefully 
collecting  what  best  illustrates  them ;  leaving  to  other 
associations  what  is  more  general,  and,  though  interest- 
ing in  itself,  not  directly  helpful  to  the  cause  to  which 
the  past  history  of  this  club  has  pledged  its  members. 

Resolutions  of  honor  and  respect  were  paiised  in  the 
Club  this  year  In  memory  of  William  Curtis  Noyes, 
distinguished  in  his  profession,  in  patriotism,  and  as 
a  member  of  this  association ;  to  Josiah  Quincy  of 
Boston,  the  last  survivor  of  the  American  statesmen 
associated  with  the  men  of  the  Revolution,  and  the 
ardent  foe  of  those  who  were  stirring  \  rebellion  to 
undo  its  victories. 


74  THR  UNION  W.ACVS  CLUB. 

The  neglect  of  the  city  to  provide  for  the  reception 
of  Major-Gcneral  James  S.  Wadsworth's  remains,  borne 
homeward  from  the  place  of  his  honorable  death  at 
the  front  in  the  battle  of  the  Wilderness,  arrested  the 
attention  of  the  Club.  It  immediately  assumed  the 
duty,  appointed  pall  bearers,  and  formed  the  escort  to 
the  funeral  procession,  assuming  all  the  expense.  Gen. 
Wadsworth's  death  was  specially  commemorated  in  the 
Club  by  resolutions  of  sorrow.  To,  guard  against  any 
future  negligencies  of  a  similar  character,  Mr.  Charles 
H.  Marshall  proposed  that  a  joint  committee  should  be 
created  consisting  of  five  members,  the  Mayor  of  the 
,  city,  a  representative  of  the  Chamber  of  Commerce, 
and  a  representative  of  the  Produce  Exchange,  with 
two  members  of  the  Union  League  Club,  whose  duty 
it  should  be  to  raise  and  expend  the  necessary  funds 
(or  securing  appropriate  and  honorable  obsequies  for 
the  remains  of  general  officers  killed  in  the  national 
service,  and  passing  to  or  through  this  city  to  burial. 
The  Club  approved  the  suggestion,  and  named  Jona- 
than Sfurgcs  and  George  W.  Blunt  as  their  representa- 
tive members. 

Mr.  Cannon  offered  a  resolution  "  that  a  committee 
be  appointed  to  prepare  and  circulate  a  )>ctition  to 
Congress,  praying  for  the  passage  of  a  law  grantmg 
bounty  lands  from  abandoned  plantations  and  confis- 
cated territory  to  all  soldiers  and  sailors  honorably 
discharged  from  the  service  of  the  army  and  navy  of 
the  United  States."  Dr.  Lieber  ofTercd,  July  14th, 
1864,  a  series  of  resolutions,  from  a  committee  on   the 


THE  UNION  LEAGUE  CLUB.  7$ 

Civil  Service  hill,  expressive  of  sympathy  with  Senator 
Charles  Sumner's  bill  to  make  the  tenure  of  office  de- 
pendent on  good  behavior. 

The  second  annual  report  of  the  Executive  Committee 
dated  January,  iSf'i,  concludes  with  a  statement  of 
the  future  prospects  and  duties  of  the  Union  Lea<jue 
Club,  so  admirable  and  so  prophetic  that  we  cannot 
do  better  than  quote  it  here  in  full,  as  a  permanent 
part  of  the  general  survey  of  the  life  of  this  Associa- 
tion, and  as  a  summary  of  its  f  '•-nciples,  views  and 
opportunities  as  well  worthy  of  consideration  now  as 
at  the  time  it  was  written  and  adopted. 

THE   FUTURE. 

In  regard  to  the  future  it  may  be  remarked  that  if 
any  of  the  members  originally  believed  that  because 
the  Rebellion  called  it  into  existence,  therefore  its 
work  would  be  accomplished  and  its  organization  dis- 
solved when  th'j  Rebellion  should  be  suppressed,  no 
such  idea  is  entertained  among  them  now ;  and  vari- 
ous circumstances  combine  to  make  the  permanent  in- 
stitution of  the  Club  a  matter  of  such  public  moment 
as  to  justify  the  most  careful  consideration  of  the 
principles  and  limitations  to  be  observed  in  every  plan 
for  increasing  and  extending  its  influence. 

It  is  clear  to  all  that  the  memorable  events  through 
which  we  aie  passing  will  have  a  marked  effect,  yet 
to  be  developed,  upon  American  politics.  The  plot 
against  our  national  life,  originating  in  the  interest  of 
slavery,  and  of  what  Washington  denounced  as  "  that 
monster" — "State  Sovereignty" — has  already  changed 
long-settled  opinions,  and  produced  new  and  profound 
convictions.      The  resolve  of   the  people  of    Maryland 


Jt>  THE  UNION  LEAGUE  CLUB. 

and  Missouri  to  abolish  slavery  of  their  own  accord,  as 
a  system  incompatible  with  public  welfare,  has  a  sig- 
nificance not  to  be  overlooked  ;  and  the  rapid  decline 
and  approaching  fall  of  the  slave  power  by  the  opera- 
tion of  war,  and  the  proposed  amendment  to  the  Con- 
■titution,  will  presently  originate  novel  and  interesting 
questions  touching  th^"  return  of  rebel  States  and  the 
relations  of  the  freedom  which,  if  wisely  solved,  must 
give  new  life  and  vigor  to  our  country,  soon,  we  trust, 
to  be  restored  to  peace  and  freedom,  with  a  mightier 
strength  and  a  nobler  destiny  than  the  most  sanguine 
of  its  founders  dared  to  hope   for. 

At  the  present  moment,  when  the  military  issue 
teems  no  longer  doubtful,  the  question  confronts  us 
whether  our  Government  shall  treat  for  peace  with 
the  pretended  government  at  Richmond,  which  has 
trampled  alike  on  the  national  Constitution,  and  on  the 
rights  and  liberties  of  the  Southern  States  ;  or  whether, 
refusing  to  recognize  its  usurped  authority,  we  shall 
free  the  South  from  that  military  despotism,  wiping  it 
out  by  the  stern  hand  of  war.  and  then  confer  directly 
with  the  people  of  the  rebel  States  as  alone  authorited 
to  represent   themselves. 

The  disclosure,  since  the  rebellion  commenced,  of  a 
more  deeply-seated  unfriendliness  than  we  were  pre- 
pared to  find,  on  the  part  of  the  governments  and 
ruling  classes  of  Europe  towards  the  American  repub- 
lic, as  the  grand  exponent  of  popular  government  and 
free  institution,  has  been  attended  by  the  disclosure, 
still  more  startling,  of  an  influential  faction  in  our 
midst,  so  wanting  in  the  sentiment  of  American  na- 
tionality as  to  have  invited,  through  a  foreign  minis- 
ter, foreign  intervention;  and  it  may  be  that  these 
facts,  combined  with  the  establishment,  by  a  French 
army,  of  an  empire  on   the  soil  of   Mexico,  will  origirv- 


THE  UNION  LEAGUE  CLUB.  77 

ate  new  suggestions  in  regard  to  the  tone  and  charac- 
ter of  our  foreign  policy. 

But  a  question  of  instant  a.  «*  profound  importance, 
which  now  stares  us  in  the  face,  is  that  of  our  national 
finances,  and  the  best  mode  of  reducing  and  equalizing 
the  burdens  which  this  war  must  still  impose  upon  the 
nation,  already  oppressed  by  local  debts  of  immense 
amount,  incurred,  perhaps  indiscreetly,  in  the  payment 
of  needlessly  extravagant  bounties.  The  financial  ques- 
tion so  nearly  concerns  the  interests  of  every  class, 
and  the  omfort  and  welfare  of  the  whole  people,  th^t, 
despite  the  immensity  of  our  resources,  we  can  afford, 
in  regard  to  it,  neither  to  blunder  nor  to  drift. 

The  task  of  solving  this  question,  and  indeed  of  the 
questions  g.nerally  of  the  war,  belongs  to  the  party  of 
the  Administration,  and  is  shared  by  all  who  have 
assisted  to  continue  it  in  power.  Whatever  responsi- 
bility for  the  war  and  its  burdens  impartial  history 
shall  attach  to  the  Administration  and  the  party  un- 
der whose  governance  the  Rebellion  began  and  con- 
tinued until  the  inauguration  of  Mr.  Lincoln,  upon  the 
present  Government  and  its  supporters  now  devolves 
the  responsibility  of  guiding  the  country  safely  out  of 
the  storm. 

Apart  from  these  national  questions,  but  still  pos- 
sessing national  importance,  there  are  general  proposi- 
tions relating  more  especially  to  our  State  politics, 
upon  which  honest  men  of  all  parties  are  agreed. 

They  all  feel  that  their  pride  of  co-ntry  would  be 
greater,  if  to  the  military  and  naval  power,  which  pro- 
tects us  from  the  violence  of  armed  enemies,  was  add- 
ed a  moral  power,  which  should  protect  us  from  being 
daily  fleeced,  under  the  forms  of  law,  by  political  fac- 
tions that  combine  for  the  purposes  of  plunder,  destroy- 
ing   the    purity  of    the    franchise   and    the  morality  of 


78  THE  UNION  LEAGUE  CLUB. 

Icf^iilation,  and  replacing,  in  the  Lei;islature  and  in 
municipal  councils,  our  ancestral  ideas  of  public  honesty 
■nd  public  honor  by  the  immoral  practices  of  "  the 
lobby"  an<l  "the  rinf;."  No  man  who  remembers  the 
wide  and  various  circles  represented  in  tlii3  Club,  and 
who  appreciates  what  our  influence  has  accomplished 
in  drivmg  to  its  secret  haunts  the  disloyalty  that  re- 
cently flaunted  in  this  city,  should  doubt  the  power  of 
this  Association  so  as  to  concentrate  public  opinion 
against  the  outrages  of  the  lobby,  as  to  consign  the 
State  legislator  or  city  alderman,  who  tells  his  vote,  to 
•ocial   infamy  and   political   extinction. 

The  fact  that  the  loyal  party  represented  by  the 
Club  is  in  a  minority  in  this  metropolis,  but  slightly 
impairs  our  influence  in  the  country,  where  our  prin- 
ciplcs  are  backed  by  a  majority  of  4CO,ooo  votes,  and 
that  same  majority  is  recorded  against  the  party  that 
now  controls  this  city.  The  nation  at  large  has  dis- 
approved the  principles  and  policy  of  this  faction  as 
anti-natinnal  and  anti-democratic  from  the  recommenda- 
tion of  Mayor  Wood,  in  1861,  to  withdraw  New  York 
from  the  Union  and  make  it  a  free  city,  to  the  recent 
effort  of  Mayor  Gunther  to  arrest  the  foreign  immi- 
gration which  flows  in  at  life-blood  to  invigorate  our 
republic,  and  his  attempt  to  check  the  joy  of  our  citi- 
lens  at  the  victories  tA  our  toldirn  and  the  triumph  of 
our  flag.  The  people  understood  at  last  how  dwarfed 
and  pinched  are  those  ideas  of  nationality  which,  unable 
to  embrace  the  expanse  of  a  continent  or  the  dignity 
and  welfare  of  a  nation  are  restricted  to  the  interests  of 
a  faction,  the  confines  of  a  State,  or  even  the  suburb* 
of  a  city.  The  men  of  New  York  who  represent  the 
true  spirit  of  the  Nation,  and  who  have  sustained  the 
Government  in  its  darkest  hours,  are  expected  by  the 
people    to    inftuence    further    opinions    on    the    nationaJ 


THE  UNION  LEAGUE  CLUB.  79 

questions  that  are  now  arising.  Whenever  New  York 
has  truly  spoken  for  the  country,  as  when,  in  1854,  she 
was  the  first  to  utter  the  protest,  "  No  violation  of 
plighted  faith,  no  repeal  of  the  '  Missouri  Compromise,'" 
she  is  sure  of  a  patriotic  response  from  Maine  to  Kan- 
sas;  and  now,  more  than  ever  before,  the  country  will 
gladly  second  her  efforts  in  elevating  the  tone  of  the  Na- 
tional politics. 

The  near  approach  of  the  Constitutional  State  Con- 
vention to  revise  the  organic  law  of  New  York,  is 
beginning  to  lead  to  the  discussion  of  the  question,  in 
which  not  simply  the  members  of  tne  Club  and  the  citi- 
zens of  this  State,  but  American  citiz.-^ns  generally  arc 
interested,  whether  the  political  evils  inder  whicn  we 
suffer  may  not  be  traced  directly  to  our  too  hasty  dis- 
regard of  the  republican  principles  on  which  our  State 
was  founded,  and  whether  they  may  not  be  remedied, 
in  part  at  least,  by  retracing  our  steps,  and  heeding  the 
lessons  of  the  past  and  the  wisdom  of  our  fathers. 

No  time  could  be  more  favorable  than  the  present 
for  a  careful  review  of  our  situation,  when  old  parties 
are  broken  up,  old  issues  disappearing,  new  questions 
necessarily  arising,  and  a  feeling  growing  among  all 
classes  that  not  only  can  wc  not  afTord,  suddenly  bur- 
dened  as  we  are,  to  tolerate  longer  the  loose  political 
morality  and  the  reckless  and  scandalous  legislation  by 
which  we  have  been  inundated,  but  that  as  an  enlight- 
ened and  Christian  Nation,  which  has  been  chastened 
by  war,  and  from  whose  borders  servitude  is  disap- 
pearing, we  owe  it  to  ourselves  and  to  the  world,  ti 
the  memory  of  our  ancestors  and  the  hope  of  our 
children,  to  find  a  remedy  for  these  alarming  evils,  and 
to  re-inaugurate  in  our  politics  that  regard  for  truth 
and  right  and  honor,  which  is  the  surest  guarantee  of 
national  prosperity. 


8o  THE  UNlOtf  LEAGUE  CI.UB. 

Such  a  movement  of  reform  was  distinctly  included 
among  the  original  objects  for  which  this  Association 
was  O'panized,  under  the  call  for  the  formation  of  a 
National  Club,  in  January,  1863.  The  framcrs  proposed, 
in  words  that  will  bear  to  be  repealed,  not  simply  "to 
cultivate  a  profound  national  devotion,  as  distinguished 
from  State  or  sectional  feeling,"  but  "to  elevate  and  up- 
hold the  popular  faith  in  republican  government ;  to 
dignify  politics  as  a  pursuit  and  a  study;  to  awaken  a 
practical  interest  in  public  afTairs  in  those  who  have 
become  discouraged  ;  to  enforce  a  sense  of  the  sacred 
obligations  inherent  in  citizenship  ;  and,  finally,  to  bring 
to  bear  upon  national  life  all  that  a  body  of  earnest 
and   patriotic  men  can  accomplish   by  united  effort." 

Another  of  the  objects  proposed  for  the  Association 
was  "to  discuss  and  urge  upon  public  attention,  large 
and  noble  schemes  of  national  advancement,"  and  now 
that  it  has  so  far,  and  with  such  signal  success,  accom- 
plished its  primary  aim  of  rebuking  disloyalty  and 
strengthening  the  government,  the  further  duties  it 
proposed,  and  for  the  execution  of  which  its  strength 
is  now  adequate,  claim  their  due  place  in  our  consider- 
ation. 

The'  fact  that  this  idea  has  begun  to  animate  the 
Club,  and  to  induce  propositions  for  specific  action 
and  individual  recommendations  of  a  particular  policy, 
induce  the  Executive  Committee  to  remark  that,  while 
It  will  be  the  clear  duty  of  the  Association  to  lend  to 
the  National  and  State  Governments,  on  proper  occa- 
•iont,  whatever  assistance  the  varied  knowledge  and  ex- 
perience of  its  members  may  enable  them  to  render  in 
•olving  political  problems  as  they  arise,  and  m  encourag- 
ing the  broad  and  comprehensive  statesmanship  de- 
manded by  our  new  condition  ;  they  believe  that  all 
will   agree   In   thinking  that   the  Club  should  exhibit  a 


THE  UNION  LEAGUE  CLUB.  8 1 

wise  reserve,  nor  meddle  too  readily  with  lesser  ques- 
tions, nor  speak  at  any  time  in  such  a  manner  as  to  im- 
pair its  proper  influence  with  the  country. 

Thus  far  the  operations  of  the  Club  have  been  car- 
ried on  with  singular  and,  indeed,  unbroken  unanimity, 
by  gentlemen  who,  until  the  country  v  as  assailed  by 
rebellion,  had  been  arrayed  in  antagonistic  parties,  hold- 
ing opposite  opinions,  and  bent  upon  widely  diverging 
policies.  That  the  same  perfect  unanimity  of  thought 
and  action  will  prevail  in  regard  to  the  various  questions 
that,  must  presently  arise,  in  reference  to  the  measures 
of  national  advancement  to  be  presented  for  their  con- 
sideration,  cannot  reasonably  be  expected  ;  but  the  patri- 
otic pledges  of  the  founders  of  the  Association,  in  the 
words  that  have  been  quoted,  and  the  personal  charac- 
ter of  its  members,  afford  a  continuing  guarantee  to 
the  country,  that  within  the  circle  of  the  Union  League 
Club,  political  differences,  when  they  arise,  vill  always 
be  blended  with  social  courtesy,  and  that  the  united 
aim  of  all  will  still  be  to  dignify  American  politics  as 
a  pursuit  and  a  study. 

All-  which  is  respectfully  submitted. 

George  Griswold, 

Ckairmnn  »f  llu  Exttutivi  C»mi4illtt. 

The  Treasurer's  report  at  the  close  of  the  second  year 
of  the  Club's  existence,  showed  the  total  of  receipts  to 
be  $28,972  28  ;  the  paying  members  to  be  741  ;  the 
disbursements  $27,463  58;  the  balance  $i,$o8  7a  A 
significant  item  of  the  disbursements  Is  "cash  $$,100,30 
paid  for  $S,ooo  U.  S.  S  pc  cent,  bonds  and  accrued 
interest,"  which  may  be  considered  as  the  early  begin- 
ning of  the  fund  since  accumulated  toward  the  building 
of  a  permanent  Club    House.     The   Treasurer  reconv 


S3  THE   US' ION  LEAGUE  CLUB. 

mended  that  in  future  all  the  admission  fees  of  new 
members,  and  a  part  if  not  all,  the  balance  of  the  year's 
account  be  appropriated  to  a  building  fund,  and  that 
objects,  not  strictly  within  the  province  of  the  Club 
operations,  be  henceforth  provided  for  by  private  sub- 
scriptions and  not  made  a  char{;e  upon  the  general  fund. 
This  advice,  it  is  not  too  much  to  say,  has  been  since 
followed  ;  but  it  is  fair  to  add  that  if  exceptions  to  this 
policy  arc  to  be  found  in  the  accounts  of  the  first  two 
years,  no  years  since  have  exhibited,  for  none  have 
required,  luch  voluntary  liberality  on  the  part  of  in- 
dividual member*  toward*  National  object!.  The 
Union  League  Club  has  shown  at  all  times  an  excep- 
tional readiness  to  meet  all  patriotic  demands  by  the 
free  contributions  of  its  members,  and  the  ainount  lhu» 
furnished  since  its  origin,  but  particularly  while  the  war 
lasted,  would  make  no  mean  proportion  of  the  whole 
liberality  and  beneficence  of  the  City  of  New  York. 

An  act  "  to  incorporate  the  Union  League  Club  of  the 
City  of  New  York  "  passed  the  Legislature  February 
l6<h,  i86j.  The  Charter,  Article*  of  Association  and 
By-Law*  are  made  a  part  of  the  annual  report  of  Jan- 
uary, 1865. 

On  January  nth.  1865.  it  was  moved  by  Mr.  Blis* 
"That  a  committee  of  five,  with  power  to  add  to  their 
number,  be  appointed  to  take  such  measures  as  they 
may  deem  proper  to  provide  for  the  comfort  of  the 
•oldier*  arriving  in  and  leaving  the  city  by  the  teveral 
railway*,  to  far  as  they  are  not  provided  for  by  exittlng 
agencie*."     Thoma*   N.   Dale.  J.  C.   Carter,   Jackson    S. 


THE  UNION  LEAGUE  CLUB.  83 

Schultz,  George  Bliss,  Jr.,  and  Edward  Cromwell,  were 
named  as  this  committee.  Rooms  were  provided  at 
385  Fourth  Avenue,  near  the  New  Haven  depot,  \Ai 
efficient  committee  of  ladies  organized  for  cooperation, 
and  over  four  thousand  dollars  were  collected  to  c?rry 
out  the  purpose.  The  Soldiers'  Rest,  thus  instituted, 
rendered  very  efficient  service  while  the  need  for  it 
lasted. 

January  17th,  1865. — A  special  meeting  was  called  to 
express  the  sorrow  of  the  Club  on  the  death  of  Edward 
Everett.  Mr.  Parke  Godwin  reported  resolutions  of 
respect,  which   are  on   the  records  of   the  Association. 

On  January  27th,  1865,  a  committee  of  nine  (Hon. 
George  Bancroft,  R.  B.  Roosevelt,  Henry  E.  Clark, 
Isaac  Sherman,  Francis  B.  Cutting,  William  Allen 
Butler,  Elliot  *".  Cowdin,  Jackson  S.  Schultz  and  John 
Jay,)  were  appointed  to  proceed  to  Washington  and 
urge  the  adoption  of  the  Constitutional  Amendment 
abolishing  slavery.  The  report,  which  is  published,  is 
signed  by  Charles  H.  Marshall,  Elliot  C.  Cowdin, 
George  W.  Blunt,  George  W.  Lane,  Henry  E.  Clark, 
Hiram  Barney,  John  Jay,  (committee).  This  committee 
made  an  animated  report,«pubIished  and  in  the  archives 
of  the  Club,  which  furnishes  one  of  the  most  graphic  ac- 
counts anywhere  to  be  found  of  the  debate,  the  doubtful 
prospect  and  the  triumphant  passage  of  the  "Thirteenth 
Amendment."  The  report  gives  a  succinct  but  eloquent 
r^sum^  of  the  whole  history  of  the  slave  power,  its 
encroachments  and  its  successive  blows  at  the  peace 
of  the  Union.     It  Is  a  report  full  of  ringing  patriotism 


84  THE  US  JOS  LKACL'E  CI.CB. 

and  at  much  at  any  paper  on  our  rccordi  dcicrvci  to 
be  prcicrvcd  at  an  example  of  tlic  ipirit  that  animated 
the  Union  League  Club  in  the  deadly  ttruf^gle  with 
the  serpent  that  was  warmed  in  the  bosom  of  the 
Nation  until  It  had  strength  to  threaten  itt  life. 

On  the  death  of  President  Lincoln,  •  committee 
of  thirteen,  headed  by  the  President  of  the  Club,  was 
appointed  to  go  to  Washington  and  take  part  in  the 
funeral.  The  committee  consisted  of  Charles  H.  Mar- 
»hall,  Jonathan  Sturges,  James  W.  Bcckman,  John  Jay 
C.  F-^.  Dctmold,  Otis  D.  Swan,  LcGrand  B.  Cannon, 
Theodore  Roosevelt,  John  A.  Weeks,  Geo.  Cabot 
Ward,  Samuel  Wetmore,  Parker  Handy,  Charles  But- 
ler,  Frank  E.  Howe,  and  was  received  with  all  honor 
and  respect  by  President  Johnson,  the  Secretaries  of 
Departments  and  the  Chief  Justice.  The  Union  League 
Club  renewed  its  engagements  of  loyalty  and  service 
and  received  new  evidence  of  the  value  set  by  the 
Government  upon  its  labors  and  patriotism. 

The  third  annual  report  shows  that  the  year  was  a 
critical  one  in  regard  to  the  policy  of  the  Club.  The 
public  questioQs  upon  which  all  had  agreed,  were,  in  • 
manner,  closed  by  the  termination  of  the  war.  And  the 
time  had  come  when  it  must  be  decided  whether  the 
Union  League  Club  had  any  reason  for  being,  except  the 
preservation  of  the  memory,  what  it  had  been.  What  part 
the  Club  could  properly  take  in  questions  not  stnclly  na- 
tional, nor  immediately  connected  with  the  war,  was  at 
yet  unsettled.  But  it  toon  appeared  that  to  preaerre 
what  the  war  h«d   gained,  and  to  finiah  what  peace  had 


THE  UfftON  LB  AGUE  CLUB,  8$ 

only  begun,  it  was  absolutely  necemr^  that  the  princi- 
ples of  unitelfish  and  unpartisan  devotion  to  the  safety 
and  honor  of  the  Union,  should  be  applied  to  state  and 
municipal  affairs,  when  imperilled  by  factions,  nursed  by 
love  of  spoils  or  greedy  for  power  to  be  turned  into 
mo.icy.  The  national  disease  had  been  engendered  by 
legislative  and  municipal  corruption.  Were  we  to  fight 
the  enemies  of  the  Union  arrayed  in  open  arms  and  not 
the  secret  enemy  in  our  gates,  who  was  poisoning  the 
wells  from  which  we  drank?  The  Club  resolved  that  no 
cry  of  partisanship  should  scare  it  from  its  manifest 
duty,  to  act  as  a  friend  and  ally  of  honest  and  patriotic 
service  in  all  questions  that  concerned  the  State  and  the 
City.  From  this  time  the  Club  was  to  walk  warily, 
avoiding  minor  questions  of  party  differences,  and  need- 
less wounds  to  party  sensibility  ;  but  yet  on  great  and 
obvious  questions  of  official  honesty  and  public  duty,  to 
throw  itself  at  any  necessary  risk  of  misconstruction  or 
any  possible  alienation  of  its  own  members  bound  by 
special  party  ties,  into  the  scale  in  which  lay  the  National 
honor  and  the  interests  of  patriotism. 

IV. 
WORK  IN  PROMOTING  STATE  AND  MUNICIPIAL 
LEGISLATIVE  REFORM. 
It  was  in  accordance  with  this  new  departure  that  the 
Club,  in  the  month  of  January,  1865,  adopted  a  resolu- 
t'on,  offered  by  the  Executive  Committee,  that  a  com- 
mittee  of  five  be  appointed  by  the  chair  to  wait  upon 
the  committee  appointed  by  the  Legislature  to  invest) 


86  THE  VtflON  LEAGUE  CLUB 

gate  the  condition  of  the  city  government,  and  invitn 
taid  committe9to  meet  the  memben  of  the  Club  on  the 
following  Friday  evening  at  the  Club  House.  In  the 
ume  general  direction  pointed  the  resolutions  which  in 
the  month  of  February  sent  a  committee,  consisting  of 
Sinclair  Tousey,  Theodore  Roosevelt,  Elliot  C.  Cowdin, 
Stephen  Hyatt,  J.  M.  Cross,  Jackson  S.  Schulti  and 
Isaac  H.  Bailey,  to  Albany  to  urge  the  passage  of  the 
proposed  act  for  creating  a  paid  Fire  Department  in  the 
city  of  New  York.  Resolutions  followed  in  October 
creating  a  committee  to  support  the  nominations  of  the 
Syracuse  Convention,  and  to  aid  the  loyal  and  anti- 
•lavery  citizens  of  New  Jersey  to  carry  the  state  in 
favor  of  the  Constitutional  Amendments.  In  the  same 
temper  the  Governor  of  New  York  had,  upon  it*  passage, 
been  instantly  telegraphed  by  the  committee,  which 
the  Club  sent  to  Washington,  to  watch  the  course  of  the 
Thirteenth  Amendment,  "to  encourage  the  Empire 
State  to'  put  itself  first  on  the  roll  of  the  states  adopt- 
ing it."  Another  committee  was  about  this  time  ap- 
pointed, consisting  of  Messrs.  John  Jay,  William  M. 
Evartt,  Charles  Duller,  Benjamin  W.  Bonney,  James  W. 
Beekman,  S.  B.  Ruggles  and  Otit  D.  Swan,  to  consider 
what  action  should  be  taken  by  the  Club  in  relation  to 
the  approaching  convention  for  the  amendment  of  the 
Constitution  of  the  Slate  of   New  York. 

On  the  occasion  of  the  pauage  of  the  remain*  of  Lin- 
coln through  New  York,  *  disposition  being  evinced  to 
exclude  colored  citiieni  from  the  procession,  the  Union 
League  Club  vigorously  protested,   and   by  coAperation 


THE  UNION  LEAGUE  CLUB.  87 

with  the  War  Department  and  the  police,  secured  the 
admission  of  a  respectable  representation  of  colored 
citizens  in  the  ranks  of  that  most  memorable  following 
of  the  martyred  President's  ashes — a  procession  in  which 
the  Club  occupied  the  place  of  sincere  mourners. 

In  May,  of  this  year,  the  committee  on  art  and  relics 
was  made  a  standing  committee,  to  consist  of  seven 
members.  In  January  following,  Messrs.  George  P.  Put- 
nam, William  T.  Blodgett,  Richard  M.  Hunt,  J.  Lorimer 
Graham,  Jr.,  George  W.  Hatch,  J.  F.  Kensett  and  J.  F. 
Cropsey,  were  elected  to  serve  as  such  committee. 

In  June,  the  Club  passed  a  resolution  "That  the 
Union  League  Club  of  the  City  of  New  York  invokes 
the  influence  of  the  National  authorities  in  the  estab- 
lishment of  a  system  of  suffrage  in  the  late  rebellious 
states,  which  shall  be  equal  and  just  to  all,  without  dis- 
tinction of  color."  And  in  the  following  December,  the 
Club  appointed  George  F.  Noyes,  Jonathan  Sturgcs, 
Lucius  Tuckerman,  Charles  Collins,  George  Bliss,  Jr., 
William  C.  Bryant,  Jackson  S.  Schultz,  Peter  Cooper, 
Ed  /ard  F.  Davison  and  George  Obot  Ward  a  com- 
mittw.;  "  to  cofiperate  with  the  '  Nev/  York  National 
Freedmen's  Relief  Association'  in  receiving  funds  to 
support  teachers  at  the  South,  believing  no  means  more 
cITectual  towards  securing  equal  rights  to  the  negroes 
than  a  general  diffusion  of  education." 

The  Executive  Committee  recommended  In  their  an- 
nual report,  January,  1866,  the  following  additional 
topics  for  future  consideration:  "  Encoutaging  greater 
permanence  and  efficiency  in  the  subordinate  positions 


M  TMB  USIOS  LEAGUE  CLUB. 

of  the  civil  service.  Cooperation  In  al!  proper  effort* 
towards  a  greater  purity  and  independence  of  the  Ju- 
diciary. Aiding  in  the  passai^c  of  an  efficient  health  bill 
for  the  city." 

To  encourage  the  future  consideration  and  discus- 
sion of  those  and  kindred  subjects,  the  committee  rec- 
ommend the  following  addition  to  the  articles  of  asso- 
ciation : 

"  It  ^hall  be  the  duly  of  the  Club  to  resist  and  expose 
corruption  and  promote  reform  in  our  nation.il,  state 
and  municipal  affairs,  and  to  elevate  the  idea  of  Amer- 
ican citizenship." 

The  fourth  annual  report  (presented  Januiry  inth,  1867) 
shows  the  work  of  the  Club  during  the  first  year  after 
the  termination  of  the  war  of  the  rebellion,  and  exhibits 
the  policy  which  recommended  itself  to  the  association 
after  the  original  ends  for  which  it  was  established,  in 
times  critical  for  the  life  of  the  nation,  had  lost  some- 
thing of  their  imjvortance  b)»  the  success  of  the  Union 
■rmt.  The  Club  now,  and  for  a  full  year,  had  inv 
proved  the  opportunity  of  turning  its  attention  from 
military  operations,  the  recruiting  of  regiments,  the  care 
of  volunteers  in  transit,  the  creation  of  a  public  senti- 
ment favorable  to  the  passage  of  the  Constitutional 
Amendments,  the  humane  trratmrnt  of  the  freedmen, 
the  respect  due  to  the  social  and  civil  rights  of  the 
negro  in  the  free  states,  to  matters  nearer  home  affect- 
ing the  national  spirit  and  character,  and  especially  to 
the  errora,  mistakes  and  negligences,  the  crime*  ar»d 
weakneaa  that   beset  and   marked   the  municipal  govern- 


THE  UNION  LEAGUE  CLUB.  89 

ment  of  our  own  city.  But  first  it  put  on  record,  in 
March,  1866,  its  sympathy  with  the  reconstructive  policy 
of  Congress  in  the  following  resolution  : 

Resolved,  As  the  sense  of  the  Union  League  Club, 
that  the  prudence,  wisdom  and  patriotism  of  both 
houses  of  Congress,  upon  the  subject  of  the  reconstruc- 
tion of  the  Union,  meet  our  hf'arty  approbation,  and 
have,  as  we  believe,  the  approval  of  the  great  mass  of 
the  loyal  people  North  and  South. 

In  April,  1866,  on  the  passage  of  the  Civil  Rights  Bill, 
it  was  resolved : 

Whereas,  We  recognize  in  the  passage  by  Congress 
of  the  Civil  Rights  Bill  an  important  step  towards  se- 
curing to  .all  the  people  the  rights  and  immunities  con- 
sistent with  republican  government ;  and 

Whereas,  The  Union  League  Club,  consistent  with 
the  principles  of  its  form.ation,  has  invariably  sympa- 
thized with  the  oppressed,  and  given  its  support  to  meas- 
ures extending  and  securing  human  rights;  therefore, 

Resolved,  That  the  thanks  of  the  Club  are  due,  and  are 
tendered,  to  those  members  of  Congress,  who  voted  in 
favor  of  the  passage  of  the  bill." 

The  Club  sent  a  delegation  ef  sixty  members  to  the 
convention  of  Southern  loyalists  in  Philadelphia  to  take 
part  in  their  reception  and  invite  them  to  a  mass  meet- 
ing in  New  York,  which  took  place  Sep*ember  nth. 
After  a  very  enthusiastic  meeting,  the  Southern  dele- 
gates were  entertained  by  the  Club,  and  all  the  ex- 
penses of  their  visit  to  New  York  were  provided  for  by 
voluntary  subscription  among  our  own  members. 

The  Freedmcn's  Relief  Association  of  New  York  had 


90  THE  UNION  LEAGUE  CLUB. 

continued  to  receive  the  efTicient  cooperation  of  the 
committee  appointed  to  render  it.  The  New  York 
branch  of  th;  American  Frccdmcn's  Union  Commission, 
managed  by  this  Club  chiefly,  maintained  about  one 
hundred  and  fifty  teachers  in  the  field. 

The  Loyal  Publication  Society  this  year  closed  its  ex- 
istence, and  made  the  Club  a  donation  of  its  valuable 
collection  of  pamphlets  and  plates.  The  Club  recop- 
nizcd  the  great  services  of  the  gentlemen,  almost  every 
one  a  member  of  this  association,  who  had  hitherto  con- 
ducted the  Loyal  rubiication  Society,  and  eng.iged  to 
carry  on  the  work  to  the  best  of  its  ability  with  the 
assets.  Col.  Hawkins  afterwards  reported  the  circula- 
tion of  40,000  documents  thus  furnished,  and  the  inten- 
tion of  the  committee  to  put  30,000  more  in  circulation. 

Active  measures  for  promoting  the  health  of  New 
York  engaged  our  citizens  at  this  period,  and  drew  the 
close  attention  of  the  Club  to  the  bill  before  the  Icgiv 
Uture,  which  was  largely  suggested,  framed  and  carried 
by  the  aid  of  members  of  the  Club,  acting  either  in  their 
characters  of  citizens  or  as  a  committee  of  the  Union 
League  Club.  The  general  object  was  to  secure  an  im- 
proved Jind  efficient  sanitary  system  for  New  York  City 
and  vicinity,  by  putting  responsibility  and  power  into 
the  hands  of  a  Board,  free  from  political  influence  and 
directed  by  adequate  scientific  skill  and  executive 
ability.  A  large  committee  from  the  Club  proceeded 
to  Albany,  to  argue  the  question  before  a  committee  o( 
the  Legislature.  When  the  measure  the  Club  had  ad- 
vocated   was    carried,   several    members    of    the    Union 


THE  UNION  LE/IUE  CLUB.  9 1 

League  Club  were  honored  by  seats  in  the  Board,  and 
rendered  most  efficient  and  widely  recognized  services  in 
improving  the  sanitary  condition  of  the  metropolis. 
Ever  since,  the  Board  of  Health  has  drawn  a  large 
amount  of  its  wisdom  and  skill  and  public  credit  from 
members  of  this  Club  occupying  official  places  in  the 
Board. 

An  equally  important  and  laborious  public  service  was 
rendered  this  year,  and  long  after,  by  members  of  the 
Club  in  connection  with  the  Citizens'  Association,  in  its 
endeavors  to  ferret  out  and  expose  official  corruption  in 
the  City  against  the  opposition  of  a  banded  set  of 
profligate  politicians,  ])rofiting  by  the  wrongs  from 
which  the  public  suffered.  The  Executive  Committee 
recommended  in  its  annual  report  that  the  thanks  cf  the 
Club  be  presented  to  Jackson  S.  Schultz,  Willard  Parker, 
John  O.  Stone,  Thom  s  C.  Acton,  Dorman  B.  Eaton, 
George  Bliss,  Jr.,  Peter  Cooper,  George  F.  Noyes  and 
others,  members  and  officers  of  the  Board  of  Health 
and  of  the  Citizens'  Association,  and  n  jmbers  of  the 
Club,  for  their  invaluable  services  to  the  city  and 
country  at  large,  in  the  discharge  of  their  duties  in  con- 
nection with  these  two  associations. 

The  last  official  act  of  the  Club,  this  year,  1 866,  was 
the  passage  of  the  following  Resolution  : 

Resolved,  In  view  of  the  corruption  and  Inefficiency, 
especially  In  the  legislative  departments  of  the  city 
government  of  the  City  of  New  York  and  the  bureaus 
therewith  connected,  and  in  reference  to  the  changes 
that  may  be  proposed  in  the  government  of  the  city  in 


93  THK  UNION  LEAGUE  CLUB. 

the  Constitutional  Convention  soon  to  be  held,  that  a 
committee  of  the  Club,  to  consist  of  eleven  members,  be 
named  by  the  Chair,  whose  duty  it  shall  be  to  report 
to  the  Club,  at  tiic  earliest  period  practicable,  such 
measures  of  chan(;c  and  reform  as  in  their  opinion  will 
be  best  adapted  to  remedy  such  abuses,  and  to  secure  to 
the    City    honest  and    efficient    municipal    government. 

The  Committee  was  accordingly  appointed,  consisting 
of  Messrs.  Dorman  H.  Elaton,  George  V .  Noyes,  Jackson 
S.  Schultz,  Charles  P.  Kirkland,  Isaac  H.  Bailey,  James 
B.  Varnum,  Jr.,  Isaac  Sherman,  Charles  A.  Peabody. 
Theodore  Roosevelt,  George  Bliss,  Jr.,  and  Albert 
Mathews.  In  the  course  of  the  year  the  Committee,  by 
the  hand  of  its  Chairman,  Dorman  R.  Eaton,  Esq.,  made 
the  most  exhaustive  report  anywhere  to  be  found,  on 
the  subject  committed  to  them  ;  a  report,  which  of  itself 
•lone  would  justify  the  whole  existence  of  the  Club 
that  ordered  it.  It  is  feared  that  the  substance  of  this 
valuable  report  has  not  been  sufficiently  studied.  We 
can  only  recommend  that,  if  copies  of  it  remain  in  our 
archives,  it  be  placed  as  a  manual  for  our  younger  mem- 
bers, where  it  can  be  seen  and  studied.  It  deserves  to 
be  revived  in  the  memory  of  the  Club,  and  kept  alive 
until  Municipal  Reform  is  much  further  advanced  than 
it  is  now. 

This  report  is  a  monument  of  patient  inquiry, 
le^l  knowledge  and  political  sagacity,  animated  by 
fervent  patriotism  and  moral  earnestness,  and  ranks 
among  the  most  important  public  pajKrs  of  our  gen- 
eration.     It   examines  the  obscure  and  confusing    que»- 


THE  UNION  LEAGUE  CLUB.  93 

tion  of  the  relation  of  the  government  of  cities  to 
state  government,  and  establishes  the  inexpediency  of 
ruling  cities  on  party  principles,  or,  in  the  interest  of 
state  or  general  politics.  It  advocates  the  policy  of 
officers  appointed  by  responsible  authority,  over  that  of 
officers  elected  by  popular  vote.  It  marks  the  just 
limits  between  the  properly  elective  and  the  more  fitly 
appointed  offices.  It  examines  the  question  of  the  place 
that  State  Commissioners  should  have  in  the  govern- 
ment of  New  York  City,  and  disposes  of  the  objections 
to  them,  made  by  the  jealoury  of  local  politicians,  or  by 
the  charge  of  their  being  irresponsible.  It  plainl}'  shows 
the  dangers  of  too  frequent  popular  clectior;s,  short 
terms  of  office,  and  official  inexperience,  and  pressure  of 
party  obligation.  It  proves  that  New  York  City  has 
under  its  present  charter  fallen  into  the  control  of  one 
class  of  voters — the  least  intelligent,  the  least  moralized, 
the  least  interested  in  good  govirnment, — and  that,  by 
their  banded  power,  an  inferior  class  oi  men  is  foisted 
into  executive,  legislative  and  judicial  offices.  It  shows 
that  the  power  of  the  city  is  no  longer  in  the  hands  of 
those  who  pay  its  revenues,  and  that  the  brains,  and 
worth,  and  patriotism  of  the  city  arc  always  feebly  repre- 
sented in  its  councils. 

It  concludes  with  an  eloquent  and  convincing  appeal 
to  the  citizens  of  New  York,  based  on  the  immense 
influence  for  good  or  for  evil  belonging  to  the  metropolis 
of  the  country,  to  amend  the  Charter,  and  place  the 
administration  of  all  parts  of  the  city  government,  which 
do  not  obviously  belong  to  the  Mayor  and  Aldermen, 


94  THE  UNION  LEAGUE  CLUB. 

under  the  control  of  CommiMions  like  those  that  now 
govern  our  Water  Board,  our  Police,  and  our  Health 
Departments.  There  is  more  instruction  and  more  need- 
ed instruction  in  this  Report  on  the  subject  of  the  gov- 
ernment of  this  City,  the  sources  of  its  feebleness  and 
corruption,  than  is  anywhere  else  to  be  found. 

On  February  33d,  1866,  a  reception  was  given  to 
General  Grant,  on  occasion  of  the  prcrntation  of 
General  Scott's  portrait.  Previous  to  the  meeting  of 
Congress,  Hon.  W.  P.  Fessendcn  had  a  public  reception 
given  him  by  the  Club.  Mr.  John  Jay,  President  of  the 
Club,  but  elected  during  his  absence  in  Europe,  ad- 
dressed two  letter*  to  the  Club,  one  of  much  personal 
interest,  and  the  second  of  ^uch  public  importance,  on 
account  of  its  review  of  the  state  of  feeling  towards  our 
cause  in  Europe,  and  its  valuable  suggestions  respecting 
the  future  action  of  the  Club,  that  it  was  ordered  to  be 
printed  and  put  in  the  hards  of  all  the  members  of  the 
Club. 

The  Invaluable  servicet  of  William  J.  Hoppin  for 
three  yean,  who  this  year  resigned  the  post  he  had  filled 
■o  energetically,  were  distinguished  by  the  request  of  the 
Club  that  he  would  tit  for  hit  portrait  to  be  placed  on 
the  walls  of  the  Club  House.  Mr.  George  T.  Strong's 
resignation  was  honored  by  a  recommendation  of  the 
amendment  of  the  ny-Lawi,  that  the  Executive  Com- 
mittec  might  then  propose,  that,  as  one  of  the  foundera 
of  the  Club,  he  should  be  placed  on  the  roll  of  hon- 
orary memben ;  a  suggestion  which  waa  duly  heeded 
and  carried  out  In  the  course  of  the  next  year. 


THE  VNIOff  LEACVE  CLUB.  95 

In  October  of  this  year  (1866)  the  annual  dues  were 
raised  from  $30  to  $50. 

By  this  time,  some  question  existed  in  regard  to  the 
choice  of  future  quarters  for  the  Club  on  the  expiration 
of  the  first  lease,  whether  to  improve  the  Club  House 
then  occupied,  by  building  a  hall  and  restaurant,  which 
were  much  needed,  or  move  to  other  and  better  accom- 
modations  on  another  lease,  or  build  on  purchased  lots  a 
house  of  its  own.  Events  have  since  proved  the  wis- 
dom of  the  Executive  Committee  and  tiie  wise  docility 
of  the  Club  in  refusing  to  yield  at  that  time  to  the 
natural  ambition  for  a  Club  House  of  its  own,  which 
would  have  probably  saddled  the  Union  League  with  a 
debt  most  unfavorable  to  the  increase  of  its  membership 
and  its  efficiency.  The  judicious  recommendation  of  the 
Committee  to  enlarge  the  accommodations  of  the  Club 
House,  by  erecting  a  back  building  on  the  premises  of 
the  estate  we  then  occupied,  was  baffled  by  some  diffi- 
culties that  arose  in  the  attempted  renewal  of  the  lease. 
It  was  a  painful  wrench  to  the  sensibilities  of  the  orig> 
inal  members,  when  a  little  later  the  Club  was  torn  from 
its  first  home,  and  replanted  in  strange,  though  nriore 
splendid  quarters. 

We  quote  the  words  of  the  Executive  Committee  in 
their  excellent  argument  in  favor  of  holding  on  to  the 
original  CInb  House : 

Apart  from  and  superior  to  these  contiderationt,  are 
the  memories  and  traditions  of  this  house.  Here  we 
commenced,  and,  during  all  the  dark  days  we  have  passed 
through,  have  lived  and  labored.    There  is  no  comer  of 


96  THE  UNION  LEAGUE  CLUB. 

this  house,  which  has  not  a  record  o(  faithful  work  done, 
and  cheerful  hospitality  afforded,  l^cre  we  have  labored 
for  the  good  cause,  and  here  the  other  workers,  members 
of  the  nation,  have  been  our  guests.  What  kindly  remem- 
brances for  us,  and  them,  and  how  ling  the  list  of  those 
who,  when  we  leave  these  wails,  must  go  out  with  us. 
Old  age,  chance,  and  accident  will  have  turned  away  the 
feet  of  many,  whom  we  most  delight  to  honor. 

The  financial  report  for  the  year  iSoc  shows  that  the 
members  had  fallen  off  from  eight  hundred  and  thirty 
three  to  seven  hundred  and  ninety-seven.  The  cash  re- 
ceipts of  the  refreshment  room  were  nearly  |t,cxx)  less 
than  the  year  previous,  which  the  Suf>erintcndcnt  attrib- 
uted to  a  diminution  in  the  general  attendance,  on  ac- 
count of  the  decrease  of  excitement  in  political  mat- 
ters. 

The  Library  Committee  reported  that  during  this  year, 
1866,  the  Library  had  grown  more  than  in  all  the  pre- 
vioui  existence  of  the  Club.  The  Library  contained  at 
this  date,  besides  35,243  pamphlets,  numerous  periodicals 
and  papers,  577  standard  volumes,  including  the  litera- 
ture of  the  war,  the  great  encyclopedias,  dictionaries  and 
many  works  of  reference.  Prof.  Goldwin  Smith  had 
generously  presented  100  volumes  to  be  distributed  to 
members  of  the  Club.  The  Library  Committee,  Messrs, 
Shepard,  Guiteau,  Man,  Osgood,  Varnum,  Mathews,  and 
Butterworth,  exhibit  in  their  report  a  very  thorough 
•ense  of  the  importance  both  of  a  distinctive  character  in 
the  Library,  and  of  thr  value  of  its  treasures  in  promot- 
ing the  attractions  and  intpiring  the  future  activities  of 
the  aaaociatioiL 


THE  UNION  LEAGUE  CLUB.  97 

The  year  ending  with  the  fifth  annual  meeting  (Jan- 
uary loth,  1868),  shows  a  further  decline  in  the  num- 
ber of  our  membership,  which  was  reck  .-ned  in  the  report 
of  the  Executive  Committee  at  six  hundred  and  fifty- 
seven,  just  a  hundred  less  than  the  year  before.  The  clos- 
ing up  of  the  greater  or  more  obvious  issues  of  the  Rebel- 
lion, diminished  the  interest  of  the  less  serious  and  fore- 
looking  of  our  members,  but  left  still  a  solid  body  who 
knew  that  what  remained  to  be  done  in  rectifying  and 
animating  public  opinion  would  furnish  for  an  indefinite 
period  a  reason  for  our  existence.  It  was  felt  that  the 
Union  League  Club  had  become  a  school  for  the  education 
of  our  more  thoughtful  and  patriotic  young  men  in  Ameri- 
can principles,  and  was  the  means  of  supplementing  by 
voluntary  associative  action,  what  free  institutions  can 
not  adequately  accomplish  by  official  and  governmental 
action.  The  less  the  temptations  to  office  in  a  country 
like  ours  for  the  energetic,  the  educated  and  the  refined, 
the  more  important  that  the  class  disinclined  to  political 
life  should  at  least  understand  political  questions  and 
influence  public  opinion  by  an  intelligent  interest  in  all 
legislation.  None  can  doubt  that  the  formal  discussions, 
but  still  more  the  private  discourse  and  conversation  in 
knots,  among  the  members  of  the  Union  League  Club, 
had  during  the  war  been  a  continued  fosterer  of  patriot- 
ism and  union  sentiment ;  that  a  large  part  of  our 
state  and  municipal  legislation  had  been  influenced, 
moderated  or  directed  by  the  sense  and  power  of  men  In 
our  membership,  who  .ould  not  have  felt  their  public 
responsibility  more,  or  met  it  more  self-sacrificingty,  if 


9*  THE  UNION  LEAGUE  CLUB. 

they  had  b«en  Senator*  at  Washington,  or  heads  of 
departments  at  Albany,  or  common  councilmen  in  New 
York.  The  Club  had  become  a  power  behind  the  State 
and  was  commonly  recognized  as  containing  citizens  who 
held  their  private  interests,  their  time,  their  ease,  their 
party  ties,  their  lives,  second  to  their  love  of  country  and 
their  devotion  to  good  government.  Not  *ince  the  days 
of  the  Revolution  had  there  been  so  large  a  class  of 
citizens  who  lived  and  breathed  and  had  their  being  in 
the  country's  danger*,  hopes  and  interests.  It  would 
not  be  too  much  to  say  that  a  hundred  members  of  the 
Union  League  gave  their  mo^t  valuable  time  every  day, 
for  five  years  and  more,  to  the  consideration  of  public 
afTairs,  for  which  they  had  only  the  vame  rc»pon$ibility 
that  belongs  to  every  citizen.  It  would  be  easy  and 
plea%ant  to  make  out  this  shining  list ;  and  a  good  part 
of  it*  names  would  come  with  a  unanimous,  spontaneous 
acclamation  from  the  lips  of  our  membership.  The 
difficulty  would  be  to  know  where  to  end  :  and  that  it 
great  enough«to  admonish  us  not  to  begin  it.  Besides, 
the  labors  of  the  Ictding  workers  in  this  League  were 
too  great  for  praise.  They  would  feel  themselves 
mocked  by  any  effort  to  pay  them  off  with  resolutions 
and  eulogies.  None  but  themselves  could  know  the 
solicitudes,  the  precautions,  the  painful  efforts  to  which 
they  gave  their  nights  and  days  ;  and  only  the  salvation 
of  their  country,  the  approbation  of  their  own  con- 
•ciences  and  the  favor  of  Him  who  rules  in  the  Annies 
of  Heaven,  could  fitly  reward  them.  We  will  not  aoii 
the  purity  of   their  motives,   or   belittle    the    greatness 


THE  UNION  LEAGUE  CLUB.  99 

of  their  services,  by  holding  up  the  names  of  the  more 
distinguished  workers,  during  the  first  five  years  of  the 
Club's  existence,  to  the  public  recognition.  It  would  be 
assuming  that  we  could  make  them  better  known,  than 
they  already  arc,  by  their  works.  It  would  shock  the 
modesty  and  the  patriotism,  that  neither  sought  nor 
desired  any  recognition  except  this  opportunity  of  large 
service.  A  glorious  constellation  of  men,  a  score  or 
more  start  out  from  the  first  hundred,  who  would  all  be 
deemed  worthy  of  special  mention,  whom  we  need  not 
and  will  not  name,  seeing  that  they  are  fully  known,  if 
unnamed  ;  men  who  will  some  day  be  reckoned  not  only 
as  illustrious  in  the  annals  of  this  Club,  but  whose 
devotion,  disinterestedness  and  patriotism  will  be  used 
to  animate  other  generations,  in  trials  possibly  as  great 
as  a!iy  we  have  borne  and  escaped. 

The  labors  of  the  Club  for  the  year  1867  were  more  in 
the  zeal  of  its  members,  a-ting  in  their  private  capacity 
in  shaping  out  public  affairs  in  the  State  and  muni> 
cipality,  than  in  its  formal  action,  and  of  this  no  record 
can  be  given. 

In  June,  a  committee  of  conference  was  held,  com- 
posed of  members  of  the  Loyal  League  of  Philadel- 
phia, and  a  committee  of  this  Club,  at  which  delegates 
from  the  tvio  bodies  were  appointed  to  proceed  to  Rich- 
mond, where,  in  conference  with  Gov.  Pierpont  and  the 
loyal  organizations  of  Virginia,  much  service  was  done 
to  the  loyal  cause  in  harmonizing  conflicting  interests. 

The  circumstances  of  Gen.  Sheridan's  removal  from 
New  Orleans  had  provoked  an  intense  feeling  of  dis- 


lOO  THE  UNION  LZACVE  CLUB. 

mpprobation,  and  opportunity  was  taken  to  manifest  it 
on  occasion  of  hit  vitit  to  New  York, 'where  the  Club 
gave  him  an  cnthuiiastic  reception  on  the  30th  of  Sep- 
tember. 

The  Annual  Report  for  1867  notes  that  the  subject 
of  national  repudiation  had  engaged  the  attention  of 
the  Club,  and  regrets  that  so  disgracr'"'  ».  fj~gestion 
should  ever  have  demanded  notice.  It  was  not  then 
anticipated  how  large  a  place  various  disguised  forms 
of  repudiation  were  to  hold  in  the  national  councils  nd 
State  legislations  for  the  decade  which  vas  to  folio  t, 
nor  how  much  of  the  best  influence  of  this  Club  was 
to  be  expended  in  sustaining  the  principle  that  Amcr- 
ka  "can  admit  no  distinction  between  public  and  pwi- 
yate  faith,  and  »  t  the  question  of  her  finances  will 
follow  her  old  rule  of  honesty  as  the  only  one  worthy 
ol  the  intelligence,  and  dignity  of  a  free  people." 

The  Club  put  itself  repeatedly  on  record  this  year  on 
the  question  of  equal  suffrage,  and  on  that  of  the  re. 
construction  and  re(stablishment  of  the  states  lately  in 
rebellion,  as  desiring  no  confiscation  and  no  harsh  terms, 
but  as  demanding  justice  and  security. 

TT>e  action  of  the  Club  on  questions  of  state  and 
municipal  reform,  in  connection  with  the  Constitutional 
Convention,  was  constant,  energetic  and  influential. 
Hon.  J.  C.  Hamilton,  Dr.  Francis  Lleber,  and  Dorman 
B.  Eaton,  Esq.,  are  mentioned  at  deserving  special  thanks 
for  the  studies  they  made  and  the  labors  they  contrib- 
uted in  this  direction.  Prof.  Lieber,  at  the  request  of 
the   Club,   wrote   a   valuable   |>aper,   styled    "  Reflections 


THE  UNION  LEAGUE  CLUB.  lOI 

on  the  changes  which  may  seem  necessary  in  the  pres- 
ent constitution  of  the  state  of  New  Yor'-."  which  was 
published  in  May,  1867. 

Notice  was  publicly  taVcn  this  year  in  the  Annual  Re- 
port of  the  loss  of  Gov.  John  A.  King  and  President 
Charles  King,  Philip  Reynolds,  Gen.  W.  K.  Strong,  Mr. 
Elbridge  Gerry,  members  of  the  Club  ;  of  Hon.  Charles  G. 
Loring  and  Major  Stearns,  members  of  a  sister  asso- 
ciation;  of  Gov.  Andrew,  dear  to  the  whole  country; 
of  Col.  George  F.  Noyes,  who  had  been  an  active  and 
laborious  member  of  the  Executive  Committee,  and  who 
was  very  suddenly  cairied  off. 

A  bust  of  the  late  lamented  Robert  B.  Minturn,  first 
President  of  the  C  ib,  by  Mr.  Launt  Thompson,  pre- 
sented to  the  Club  oy  twenty-five  members ;  a  group  in 
bronze  of  President  Lincoln  and  a  freed  slave,  presented 
by  Mr.  G.  Falconer  of  Paris ;  a  portrait  of  Gen.  Strong, 
presented  by  the  artist,  Mr.  J.  D.  Barrow,  were  this 
year  gratefully  placed  among  the  possessions  of  the 
League  and  the  ornaments  of  the  Club  House. 

The  new  Treasurer,  Mr.  George  Cabot  Ward,  reported 
the  total  receipts  to  be  $50,454.72 ;  the  whole  expendi- 
ture, $48,138.15,  with  $i4,oco  in  the  reserved  fund. 

December  27th,  1867,  the  Executive  Committee  rec- 
ommended to  the  Club  the  lease  of  the  Jerome  Build- 
ing,  on  the  terms  proposed  in  the  lease  read  to  the  com- 
mittee by  Mr.  John  A.  Weeks.  On  the  36th  day  of 
March,  1868,  the  Club  held  its  last  meeting  In  the  old 
Club  House,  and  the  evening  was  devoted  to  a  review 
of  the  historic  memories  of  the  spot.    An  address  was 


102  THE  UNION  LEAGUE  Cl.UB. 

given  by  the  President,  Mr.  Jay,  which  was  ordered  to 
be  printed.* 

It  may  be  considered  of  doubtful  expediency  to  refer 
to  the  meeting  held  May  23d,  1867,  at  the  demand  of 
twenty-five  members,  to  consider  the  question  of  what 
the  Club  should  do  in  view  of  the  fact  that  one  of  its 
members,  Horace  Greeley,  liad  offered  himself  as  one  of 
the  bondsmen  of  JcfTcrson  Davis.  But  to  avoid  notic- 
ing so  very  conspicuous  an  event,  which  drew  a  wide 
notice  from  the  public  press  at  the  time,  and  was  pointed 
by  one  of  the  most  characteristic  and  stinging  articles 
at  the  expense  of  the  Club  that  ever  came  from  Horace 
Greeley's  pen  on  any  provocation,  would  be  a  species  of 
cowardice  not  worthy  of  the  hiitoriani  of  the  Club,  and 
be  likely  to  cast  doubti  upon  their  candor  and  good 
faith  in  other  parts  of  this  record. 

There  is  grave  doubt  whether  Mr.  Greeley  did  not 
commit  a  teriou*  mistake,  or  fall  into  an  error  of  judg- 
ment, in  offering  himself  publicly  as  bondsman  of  the 
public  representative  of  the  rebellion  and  its  official 
head.  It  is  also  doubtful,  on  the  other  hand,  whether 
the  remonstrants  in  the  Union  League  Club  did  not  err 
in  judgment  in  making  a  matter  of  bad  taste  and  prcv- 
yoking  disregard  of  the  feeling!  of  the  Club  in  a  man 
of  Horace  Greeley's  great  public  tervicei  and  nobility 
of  general  character,  with  a  larger  following  than  jti 
own,  and  an  older  record  of  patriotism  and  services,  a 
matter  of  official  notice  and  arraignment.  With  a  daily 
and  weekly  preat  at  hit  command,  and  a  magnificent 
*  9*«  tppmxlli. 


THE  UNION  LEAGUE  CLUB.  IO3 

record  for  patriotism,  loyalty  and  philanthropy,  he  was 
more  than  a  match  in  opportunity,  and  in  his  wide- 
spread constituency,  for  anything  the  League  could  do 
or  say  against  him.  To  remonstrate  with  him  waa  to 
make  the  matter  worse ;  to  shut  him  out,  was  to  lock 
ourselves  in  still  more  effectually.  The  Club  showed 
excellent  sense  in  tabling  the  resolutions  which  men  of 
undoubted  worth  and  fiery  patriotism  brought  in,  but  it 
could  not  prevent  the  injurious  notices  of  the  public 
press,  which  jeered  at  the  impotency  of  the  Club  in 
dealing  with  a  republican  of  such  preeminence,  and  with 
an  editor  of  such  masterly  skill,  and  a  man  of  such 
licensed  eccentricity. 

It  may  be  well  to  add  that  this  was  not  the  only 
mistake  the  Club  had  made,  and  that  mistakes  were  so 
Inevitable  in  the  heated  and  exaggerated  state  of 
public  feeling,  that  it  is  strange  the  Club  did  not 
perish  from  the  flames  its  more  passionate  portion 
fanned.  Mr.  Greeley  was  not  the  only  man  whose 
public  and  patriotic  services  had  been  proved  in  deeds 
not  words,  whom  some  of  the  enthusiasts  of  the  Union 
League  Club  were  ready  to  fasten  suspicions  upon, 
when  his  views  of  some  passing  policy  or  his  opinions 
Qn  some  doubtful  question  were  wider  but  fess  popular 
than  their  own. 

But  in  excuse  we  may  well  plead  that  passion  was 
safer  than  a  cold  prudence  in  a  time  when  the  nation 
was  bleediitg;  and  that  the  rashriess  and  hasty  judg- 
ment which  marked  rome  of  our  resolutions  was  bom 
of  a  fire  without  which  we  should  have  perished.    We 


I04  TtlE  USrOS  LEAGUE  CLUB. 

muit  pardon  the  excesses  of  the  spirit  of  patriotism, 
like  those  o[  liberty.  A  time  of  war,  or  a  time  of  grief 
from  the  losses  of  war,  is  no  time  when  toleration  for 
the  most  honest  difTerences  of  opinion,  if  they  are 
deemed  in  any  way  sympathetic  with  even  the  virtue* 
of  the  foe,  it  to  be  expected. 

There  was  little  toleration  of  any  kind  during  the 
war.  North  or  South,  except  it  was  religious  toleration ; 
that  abounded,  since  theological  distinctions  sunk  into 
obscurity  in  the  flaming  glare  of  national  issues.  But 
toleration  of  a  civil  »ort  was  extinct  during  the  rebel- 
lion, and  long  after;  and  men  of  philosophic  habits  of 
mind  and  speech,  capable  of  candor  and  unimpassioncd 
views  upon  passionate  questions,  were  the  less  endura- 
ble as  co-workera  in  clubs  or  in  any  form  of  social  In- 
tercourse. Let  us  remember  that  the  pardon  for  intol- 
erance, due  in  times  of  war,  is  not  seasonable  nor  de- 
fensible in  times  of  peace,  and  that  no  Club  can  exist 
and  flourish  in  such  times  which  does  not  maintain  and 
exhibit  the  most  careful  respect  for  the  individual  opin- 
ions of  all  honest  men. 

V. 

FURTHEk  WORK   IN  STATE.  MUNICIPAL  AND   NA- 
TIONAL REFORM, 

FROM  THE  REMOVAL  TO  THE  JEROMF.  BUILDING  IN   lS68. 

Meanwhile  the  Club,  with  the  privilege  of  purchasing 
the  property  before  the  first  of  March,  1871,  for  the  sum 
of  1300,000,  had  leased  for  ten  yean  the  eligible  and 
commodious  building  still  occupied  by  us,  known  as  the 


THE  VNIOtf  LEAGUE  CLUB.  I05 

Jerome  Mansion,  on  the  corner  of  26th  Street  and  Mad- 
ison Square.  It  was  admirably  adapted  at  that  time  in 
situation,  roominess  and  variety  of  accommodation  to^ 
the  general  wa  its  of  the  Club;  central,  accessible,  sightly, 
but  required  a  large  outlay  to  fit  it  completely  to  the 
special  needs  of  the  association.  The  furnishing,  alter- 
ing  and  repairing  the  new  Club  House,  with  the  cost  of 
moving,  amounted  to  $62,375.05,  a  large  sum  which  was 
met  by  the  issue  of  bonds  $50,000 ;  of  which  $39,000  were 
taken  by  individual  members  of  the  Club,  and  $10,000  by 
the  Trustees  of  the  Sinking  Fund,  in  anticipation  of  re- 
ceipts. The  Treasurer  reported,  in  January,  1869,  that 
the  proceeds  of  the  Sinking  Fund  had  enabled  the 
Trustees  to  cancel  $30,000  of  the  bonds,  with  a  balance 
of  $1,725  to  their  credit,  leaving  only  $19,000  of  the 
bonds  outstanding. 

The  membership  for  the  year  ending  December  31st, 
1868,  had  increased  from  six  hundred  and  fifty-seven  to 
ten  hundred  and  thirty-one  resident,  and  two  hundred 
and  thirty-two  non-resident  members.  This  large  in- 
crease, by  the  amount  of  admission  fees  and  annual  dues 
which  it  secured,  put  the  Club  in  a  situation  to  meet  its 
enlarged  expenses  with  comparative  ease.  The  whole 
amount  for  admission  fees  and  annual  dues  received  this 
year  was  $84,875.  The  total  of  receipts  from  all  sources, 
$186,495.04.  The  total  expenditures  was  $188,217.56. 
The  financial  pressure  on  the  Club,  notwithstanding  its 
great  outlay,  was  only  a  debt  of  48>S35-9S- 

On  Wednesday,  April  tst,  1868,  the  Club  House  on 
Madison  Square  was  opened,  with  a  brilliant  festival ; 


I06  THB  UNION  LEAGUE  CLUB. 

twelve  hundred  ladies  and  gentlemen,  with  distinguished 
guests  from  Europe  and  America  being  present.  An  ex- 
cellent restaurant  had  been  established  ;  the  large  hall  or 
theatre  which  formed  a  part  of  the  building  silenced  a  cry- 
ing want.  The  applications  for  membership  under  the 
new  attractions  of  the  Club  were  already  such  as  to  stniin 
the  capacity  of  the  building.  It  was  deemed  prudent 
to  double  the  amount  of  the  admission  fee.  The  Club 
was  able  to  congratulate  itself  on  the  hearty  friendship 
and  cordial  cooperation  which  existed  between  itself 
and  kindred  associations  in  other  cities;  on  the  mure 
numerous  guests  it  had  been  privileged  to  entertain,  in- 
cluding Grant,  Colfax  and  Griswoid,  hundreds  of  Union 
men  from  all  parts  of  the  country;  Prof.  Goldwin  Smith 
and  the  Chinese  Embassy.  An  increasing  disposition 
wai  shown  by  non-rcsidenti  of  distinction  and  imlu- 
ence  to  have  a  place  on  the  rolls.  The  losses  of  the 
year  had  been  Bcnj.  W.  Bonney,  Menry  H.  Elliott. 
Dudley  B.  Fuller.  Henry  A.  Coit.  A.  H.  Burr,  William 
O.  Bird.  George  A.  Bock,  Edward  Macomber  and  J. 
P.   Benkard. 

Among  the  movements  of  the  Club  for  the  year  was  a 
•pirited  remonstrance  to  the  Legislature  against  certain 
appropriations  in  "An  act  for  charitable  and  public  pur- 
pose*," originating  in  the  Assembly,  at  the  instigation  of 
the  Common  Council  of  this  city.  The  Club  deprecated 
the  introduction  of  the  religious  question  into  our 
•chools  and  politic*.  Protestants  were  not  alone  in 
these  objections  to  sectarian  gifts,  or  theological  discrim- 
inations.     Prominent    members  of  the    Roman  Catholic 


THE  UNION  LEAGUE  CLUB.  10/ 

communion  among  our  own  honored  members  and  else- 
where united  in  the  protest.  The  Young  Men's  Chris- 
tian Association  of  New  York,  under  the  presidency  of 
one  of  our  own  members,  to  its  great  credit,  declined  a 
place  in  the  list,  which  had  assigned  to  it  an  unsolicited 
gift  of  $5,000. 

The  impeachment  of  the  President,  which  this  year 
had  preiiminence  among  political  measi  res,  had  of  course 
a  great  interest  for  the  Club,  but  it  pronounced  no  for- 
mal  opinion  upon  it  while  the  question  was  before  the 
high  court  of  impeachment.  Great  satisfaction  was  felt 
at  the  nomination  of  Grant,  whose  election  was  expect- 
ed to  remove  those  obstacles  to  cooperation  among  the 
several  branches  of  the  Government,  which  many 
thought  President  Johnson  had  mischievously  prevent- 
ed. Grant's  nomination  at  Chicago  on  the  21st  May, 
by  the  Republican  party,  in  the  face  of  a  hostile  execu- 
tive of  its  own  election,  was  regarded  as  a  triumph  of 
Union  principles. 

The  Club  ratified  the  platform  and  nominations  with 
promptitude,  and  hung  out  the  names  of  Grant  and 
Colfax  over  the  Club  House.  It  entered  into  the  cam- 
paign with  a  spirit  such  as  it  had  exhibited  in  the  war 
time,  and  appointed  a  committee  to  receive  and  disburse 
such  moneys  as  might  be  entrusted  to  them  for  promot- 
ing by  proper  means  the  triumph  of  Republican  princi- 
ples. The  committee,  in  a  circular  addressed  to  the  mem- 
bers, announced  that  "  No  aid  will  be  given  by  the  Club 
committee  toward  the  election  of  a  single  candidate  of 
whose   integrity  and   fitness   they  are   not  convinced." 


I08  THE  UNION  LEAGUE  CLUB. 

The  Club  committee  evinced  great  energy  in  collect- 
ing and  using  the  funds  generously  bestowed  by  the 
members  of  the  Union  League,  and  aided,  without  remon- 
strance  or  discussion  in  the  Club,  in  the  more  thorough 
organization  of  thi;  Republican  party,  seeking  to  bring 
out  a  fair  and  fuli  vote,  to  dcttct  and  punish  attempts  . 
at  fraudulent  naturalization  and  voting,  and  by  publica- 
tions and  addresses,  to  arouse  loyal  citizens  to  a  sense  of 
the  magnitude  and  significance  of  the  approaching 
election.  It  was  felt  then  that  no  departure  from  the 
national  and  unpartisan  purposes  of  the  Club  was  made 
by  this  support  of  the  National  party.  It  was  wholly  in 
the  line  of  the  Club's  antecedents,  spirit  and  aims,  and 
though  open  to  partisan  objections,  the  Club  thought  it 
right  to  ignore  or  defy  them. 

The  election  of  Grant  the  following  November  was 
felt  by  the  Club  to  be  a  great  national  triumph,  second 
only  to  Lincoln's  reelection.  No  doubt  somewhat  too 
sanguine  hopes  were  entertained  of  the  ease  with  which 
he  would  cooperate  with  Congress,  and  Congress  with 
him,  and  of  the  speedy  victory  over  the  difficulties  of 
reconstruction.  They  were  not  duly  estimated  at  that 
time,  nor  were  the  chief  embarrassments  of  the  case  yet 
fully  developed. 

Many  vainly  supposed  that  the  abolition  of  slavery  as 
a  legalized  institution  would  restore  the  late  slave  states 
to  a  condition  similar  to  our  own,  in  which  the  essen- 
tial equality  of  all  citizens  thus  recognized  by  law  would 
be  established  in  fact.  But  the  worst  effects  of  slavery 
was  in  the  slow  corruption  it  had  wrought  in  the  moral 


THE  UNION  LEAGUE  CLUB.  IO9 

standards,  social  habits,  domestic  life  and  political  feel- 
ings of  the  white  population.  It  had  created  an  ethics 
and  almost  a  religion  of  its  own  in  antagonism  with 
the  habitual  conscience  of  the  Northern  people.  It 
was  not  understood  that  it  must  take  several  genera- 
tions to  work  out  the  poison  of  its  bite,  after  the  ser- 
pent that  injected  it,  had  been  killed.  Unwise  and  im- 
possible expectations  had  not  unnaturally  been  enter- 
tained by  most  anti-slavery  men,  that  is  by  most 
Republican  and  National  men  and  women,  of  the 
effects  of  emancipation,  in  the  early  adjustment  of 
the  relations  of  freedmen  to  their  old  masters,  and  the 
aptitude  of  the  late  slaves  to  the  wise  use  of  their  free- 
dom. It  is  now  seen  how  unphilosophical  and  un- 
statesmanlike  these  hopes  were,  and  that  most  of  the 
difficulties  since  encountered  in  reconstruction  might 
have  been  foreseen  by  a  sufficient  exercise  of  political 
and  social  sagacity.  That  happened  in  regard  to  the 
relations  of  the  freedom  and  the  whites,  which  happened 
in  regard  to  our  finances.  We  thought  we  had  entered 
on  a  great  prosperity,  when  we  were  plunging  into  the 
terrible  disasters  that  followed  the  creation  of  a  sub- 
stitute for  money.  We  inflated  a  vast  bubble  in  which 
the  iris  hues  of  a  thin  and  evanescent  expansion  were 
mistaken  for  the  fixed  colors  of  commercial  health,  and 
we  danced  madly  about  it,  until  it  burst  and  left  us 
shrunken  in  fortune,  taxed  beyond  endurance,  demoral- 
ized in  business  habits,  and  at  the  mercy  of  land- 
speculators  and  railroad  corporations,  who  had  obtained 
during  our  national  intoxication,  dark   and   dangerous 


no  THE  UNION  LEAGUE  C/.U/t. 

power  over  our  State  Legislatures  and  our  Congress. 
We  have  repented  in  dust  and  ashe^,  the  delusion  of 
the  inflation  wc  mistook  for  growth.  So  wc  hoped  and 
prophesied  that  the  ilave-statcs,  the  incubui  of  their  lad 
heritage  thrown  off,  would  rise  at  once  to  the  national 
level  of  love  for  justice,  order  and  humanity,  and  allow 
the  ^freedmen  to  exercise  their  votes  and  enjoy  their 
civil  privileges,  without  restraints  equal  to  chains  and 
plantation  whips.  It  was  hoping  too  much,  hoping 
against  hope,  and  more,  against  the  laws  of  human 
nature,  the  testimony  of  past  experience,  and  the  prin- 
ciples of  that  Divine  Government  which  passes  over 
the  errors  and  sins  of  the  fathers  to  the  children,  to  the 
third  and  fourth  generation,  to  be  paid  in  full  and 
atoned  in  a  protracted  suffering.  VVe  can  see  now. 
that  we  have  demanded  and  expected  too  rnuch  from 
the  Central  Government,  and  have  made  administrations 
responsible  for  evils  they  could  not  manage  or  remove. 
We  were  perhaps  unjust  to  Johnson  who  may  have  un- 
derstood,  as  a  southern  statesman,  what  we  could  not. 
We  were  perhaps  extravagant  in  demanding  of  Grant 
what  no  President  could  have  accomplished.  Is  it  too 
much  to  say  that  we  may  to-day  still  be  expecting  from 
a  Republican  administration,  what  only  time  and  expe- 
rience and  the  trying  out  of  wrong  methods  in  the  South, 
until  new  and  true  ones  are  adopted  from  suffering  and 
•elf-interest,  can  slowly  accomplish  ? 

At  a  special  meeting,  held  November  Jth,  1868,  it  was 

Rft^lxtd  That  we,  the  members  of   the  Union   League 
Club,  in  view  of  the   manifest  and    glaring   frauds  perpe- 


THE  UNION  LEAGUE  CLUB.  HI 

trated  at  the  late  election,  feel  it  our  imperative  duty  to 
initiate  such  measures  as  will  expose,  if  we  cannot  pun- 
ish, the  perpetrators.  That  wc  arc  not  willing  that  cither 
official  or  social  position  shall  screen  those  who  have  in 
any  way  connived  at  fraud  upon  the  elective  franchise  or 
the  rights  of  citizens  at  the  late  election,  with  a  full  dc> 
termination  to  do  our  duty  in  this  respect  as  citizens 
without  fear,  favor  or  partiality. 

Resolved,  That  a  committee  of  five  be  appointed  to 
take  these  subjects  into  consideration,  fully  investigate  in 
respect  thereto,  with  authority  to  initiate  and  prosecute 
any  measure  in  connection  therewith  which  shall  be 
deemed  proper  or  exptJient,  and  with  authority  to 
solicit  subscriptions  in  aid  of  the  purpose  above  indi- 
cated, etc. 


The  result  of  the  investigation  of  the  Committee  of 
the  Senate  and  House  was  the  passage  of  the  election 
law,  which  its  enemies  have  in  vain  tried  to  have  re- 
pealed. 

The  joy  and  pride  of  the  election  in  November,  1868, 
was  very  much  sobered  and  chastened  by  the  fact  that 
the  official  returns  of  our  own  State  arrayed  New  York 
by  an  apparent  majority  on  the  side  of  anarchy  and  re- 
pudiation. The  Club,  on  the  very  evening  succeeding 
the  election,  resolved  that  in  their  deliberate  judgment 
a  large  majority  of  the  legal  voters  of  the  State  voted 
for  Grant,  Colfax  and  Griswold,  and  that  the  vote  of 
the  majority  had  been  overruled  by  wholesale  fraud. 

A  committee  appointed  to  investigate  these  alleged 
frauds,  opened  an  office,  employed  counsel,  issued  an  ad- 


tlX  THE  US' ION  LEAGUE  CLUB. 

dress  to  the  people  and  soon  accunvulated  a  body  of  evi- 
dence that  placed  in  a  manner  convincing  to  the  Club, 
the  fact  of  the  existence  of  a  gigantic  conspiracy  to 
carry  the  State  by  fraud  in  registration,  naturalization 
and  gangs  of  repeaters.  The  refusal  of  the  clerks  of  the 
courts,  whose  seal  was  borne  by  the  certificates  of  na- 
turalization, to  allow  an  inspection  of  their  records,  and 
the  suspension  of  the  power  of  the  United  States  Div 
trict  Court  in  the  matter,  by  the  divided  opinions  of  the 
parties,  in  the  famous  case  of  Rosenberg,  decided  the 
committee  to  submit  the  matter  to  Congress.  The 
President  of  the  Club  and  Col.  Cannon  went  to  Wash- 
ington and  presented  an  elaborate  memorial  to  Congress 
on  the  subject,  which,  by  each  House,  was  ordered  to  be 
printed.  The  Senate  referred  it  to  the  Committee  on 
the  Judiciary,  the  House  to  a  committee  of  seven,  who 
came  to  New  York  the  next  week  to  investigate  the 
matter.  The  results  of  their  inquirici  must  be  sought 
elsewhere.  The  general  statement  must  suffice  that  the 
action  of  the  Club  is  deemed  to  have  brought  from 
the  next  Congress  the  laws  to  protect  the  purify 
of  elections,  which  have  never  yet  been  repealed. 
The  history  is  given  thus  far  only  in  attestation  of  the 
xeal  with  which  the  Club  followed  up  the  cause  of  purity 
in  the  ballot  box. 

A  special  committee  of  the  Club,  of  which  Mr.  George 
B.  Butler  was  chairman,  prepared  a  careful  memorial  to 
Congress,  which  obtained  numerous  signature*,  through 
the  care  of  another  special  comtjiittec,  of  which  Col. 
R.  C.  Hawkins  was  chairman.     The  Executive  Commit- 


THE  UNION  LEAGUE  CLUB.  113 

tee  concluded  theii  report  for  the  year  1868  with  the 
following  resolutions,  which  exhibit  the  policy  of  the 
Club  at  that  season  of  its  history. 

Resolved,  That  this  Club,  representing  largely  the 
commercial,  manufacturing,  financial,  and  industrial  in- 
terests of  the  national  metropolis,  hail  with  great  satis- 
faction the  sentiment,  attributed  to  tlie  Presidentelect, 
that  all  subsidies  to  private  corporations  for  works  of 
local  importance,  should  be  suspended  until  the  revenues 
of  the  nation  have  reduced  their  debt  and  elevated  the 
credit  of  the  country  to  a  point  commensurate  with  its 
acknowledged  position  as  a  first-class  power. 

Resolved,  That  we  regard  as  detrimental  to  the  na- 
tional character  and  the  public  interest,  the  existing 
system  of  appointments  to  offices  by  the  National  Gov- 
ernment simply  upon  individual  recommendation,  and 
with  no  proper  guarantee  of  the  peculiar  fitness  of  the 
candidate  for  the  special  duties  of  the  office  he  is  to  fill. 
That  we  warmly  approve  of  the  introduction  of  compet- 
itive examination  into  the  civil  service,  as  relieving  candi- 
dates from  the  degrading  necessity  of  personal  patronage, 
as  opening  wide  the  doors  to  all  classes  of  American  citi- 
zens furnishing  to  the  Government  guarantees  of  the 
character,  learning  and  ability  of  the  employees,  and  pre- 
venting the  displacement  of  valuable  experts  for  partisan 
purposes. 

Resolved,  That  the  thanks  of  this  Club  are  due  to  the 
House  of  Representatives  for  their  prompt  compliance 
with  the  request  of  this  body  made  on  behalf  of  thou- 
sands of  citizens  throughout  the  state,  for  the  appoint- 
ment 01  a  Select  Committee  of  Investigation  Into  the 
frauds  committed  in  the  State  of  New  York  at  the  recent 
election,  and  that  this  resolution  be  communicated  by 
the  President  of  the  Club  to  Mr.  Speaker  Colfax,  with 


114  THE  UNIOS  LEAGUE  CLUB. 

the  respectful  expression  of  our  hope  that  the  House 
will  confer  upon  the  Committee  any  additional  power 
that  may  be  found  necessary  for  the  thorough  perform- 
ance of  this  most  important  work. 

AMENDMENTS   TO   BV-LAW3.   ETC. 

The  following  amendments  to  the  by-laws  were  passed 
June  9th,  1868: 

19.  In  place  of  the  last  paragraph,  read  "  whenever 
any  resolution  or  action  shall  be  proposed  or  pend- 
ing in  the  Club,  which  calls  for  the  expression  of  it> 
opinion  touching  any  public  matter,  if  the  same  be  ob- 
jected to  by  any  member,  and  such  objection  be  sec- 
onded, it  shall  at  once  be  the  duty  of  the  presiding  officer 
to  state  the  objection,  and  to  call  upon  those  who  sustain 
the  same  to  rise,  and  if  twenty-five  members  shall  rise  in 
support  of  such  objection,  then  such  resolution  and  sub- 
ject of  the  proposed  action  shall  be  referred  to  a  standing 
or  special  committee  of  the  Club,  and  upon  the  coming 
in  of  any  such  report,  the  same,  and  the  resolutions  on 
the  subject  referred  to,  shall  be  deemed  before  the  Club 
for  decision  and  action  thereon,  without  further  right  of 
such  objection. 

No  member  shall  be  permitted  to  speak  more  than 
once  on  the  same  subject,  nor  more  than  ten  minutes  at 
one  time,  without  unanimous  consent  of  the  Club." 

The  report  of  the  year  closing  December  31st,  1869, 
•howi  an  increase  of  members  of  nearly  one  hundred,  or 
fourteen  hundred  and  eighteen  (ten  hundred  and  eighty- 
three  residents,  three  hundred  and  thirty-five  non-resi- 
dents), as  compared  with  the  number  the  previous  year, 
thirteen  hundred  and  twenty-six  of  both  classes.  The 
Club  wu  out  of  debt  and  had  a  surplus  of  $5,441.17. 


THE  UNION  LEAGUE  CLUB.  11$ 

The  report  of  the  year  1869,  discusses  the  future  policy 
of  the  Club  in  a  spirit  which  indicates  that  its  more  re- 
sponsible members  feared  that  its  social  advantages  and 
methods  might  be  gaining  too  much  at  the  expense  of 
its  national  aims  and  patriotic  direction.  How  to  hold 
it  to  its  political  ends  without  allowing  it  to  become  a 
party  engine  or  ally  was  the  anxious  problem.  In  care- 
fully considering  this  matter,  the  Executive  Committee 
announced  that  "  some  central  principle  should  be  re- 
cognized beyond  that  of  mere  amusement  or  simple 
party  supremacy,"  and  they  found  this  principle  to  consist 
"  in  mutual  education,  in  other  words  in  the  development 
and  perfecting  by  discussion,  public  action  and  familiar 
intercourse,  of  all  the  elements  which  go  to  make  up  the 
policy  of  a  free  state,  in  everything  which  demands  co- 
operation for  good  ends  outside  the  sphere  of  family 
life." 

The  conditions  favorable  to  the  greatest  efficiency  of 
this  principle,  are  "  permanence,  independence,  economy 
and  facility  of  intercourse ;  and  resulting  from  all  these, 
freedom  from  ordinary  risks  to  its  members,  particularly 
the  young  men  from  whom  our  principal  hope  in  the 
future  must  come."  A  thoughtful  suggestion  was  ofTered 
"  whether  important  results  might  not  be  obtained  by 
facilitating  organizations  inside  the  Club  for  the  consid- 
eration of  special  subjects,  with  a  view  of  bringing  them 
before  the  Club  in  a  completed  form  for  its  final  action." 
It  does  not  appear  that  any  particular  attention  was 
given  by  the  members  to  this  suggestion.  The  Club 
naturally  fell  into  small  ciixles  in  which  those  interested 


Il6  TIIR  US'ION  LEAGUE  CLVB. 

in  special  questions  consulted  with  each  other,  and  often 
brought  matters  fitted  for  general  action  to  the  attention 
of  the  association  for  its  endorsement  or  correction,  or  to 
obtain  the  influence  of  its  name.  It  is  possible  that 
crude  opinions  or  measures  influenced  by  class  or  business 
Interests,  or  by  party  prejudices,  sometimes  got  an  ill- 
considered  endorsement  from  the  Club  by  the  urgency  of 
comparatively  small  knots  of  active  friends.  But  on  the 
whole  the  Club  has  reason  for  self  congratulation  in 
noticing  in  the  study  of  its  past  record,  how  few  instances 
of  this  kind  occur,  and  with  what  sobriety,  caution  and 
dignity,  the  Club  as  a  body  guarded  itself  against  pav 
■ionate  or  hasty  commitments  to  doubtful  assertions  or 
policies. 

Experience  has  shown  that  Clubs,  even  as  serious  in 
their  purposes  as  this,  seldom  successfully  undertake  in 
times  of  peace,  the  work  of  schools  and  colleges,  or  of 
legislative  and  congressional  committees.  The  men  who 
have  leisure,  are  not  usually  the  men  who  have  influence, 
or  industry  ;  or  seriousness  of  purpose.  The  active  busi- 
ness men  or  professional  men,  are  too  much  worn  with 
daily  cares  to  undertake  willingly  the  works  of  suf>crero- 
gation  which  such  a  scheme  involves  or  implies.  The 
Union  League  Club  had  an  exceptional  and  rare  experi- 
ence in  this  respect,  which  it  is  very  desirable  to  extend 
and  perpetuate,  but  which  only  the  greatest  effort  can  b« 
able  to  maintain.  Meanwhile  we  must  not  be  urgent  or 
insensible  to  the  social  advantagci  of  the  aaaoclation,  nor 
to  the  merits  of  club  life  as  such. 

To  gather  up  and  fuse  together,  in  aocial  and  easy  way* 


THE  UNION  LEAGUE  CLUB.  Wf 

what  has  been  laboriously  learned  in  the  school  of  life,  or 
attained  by  political  and  business  and  professional  experi- 
ence in  men's  individual  careers,  to  communicate  and  ex- 
change pleasantly  and  by  direct  personal  intercourse,  "  in 
quips  and  sentences  and  paper  pellets  of  the  brain,"  the 
wisdom  of  life  and  the  fruits  of  its  hard  lessons  is  truly 
educational ;  is  an  effective,  besides  being  an  attractive 
and  lastingly  pleasant  form  of  association.  Life  is  al- 
ready too  busy  and  care-laden,  to  make  what  we  call  our 
pleasures  only  another  form  of  hard  work.  The  social 
intercourse  of  patriotic  and  thoughtful  men,  will  neces- 
sarily partake  of  their  thoughtfulness  and  patriotism.  It 
is  not  so  much  what  Clubs  do  or  undertake,  as  who  com- 
pose them,  that  decides  their  usefulness  as  well  as  their 
satisfactoriness.  Army  Clubs  do  not  promote  their  high- 
est objects  by  going  into  barracks  or  camp,  by  practicing 
drill,  or  discussing  tactics  or  artillery  practice  ;  but  by  in- 
terchanging common  memories,  and  bringing  what  lies 
equally  beneath  the  soldiers  epaulets  and  the  civilians 
coat,  the  man's  qualities,  the  gentleman's  courtesy,  the 
citizen's  love  of  country — into  the  iCllowship  of  some 
common  bond  of  life.  It  is  the  character,  worth  and 
manners  of  the  members  of  a  Club  like  this,  that  consti- 
tutes its  importance.  From  the  beginning,  it  was  made 
up  of  the  men  of  decided  national  spirit,  who  had  the 
courage  of  their  opinions  when  neutral  or  timid  hearts 
were  wavering ;  it  carefully  excluded  men  of  doubtful 
character  whether  in  business  or  domestic  life;  it  paid 
no  respect  to  the  accidental  heirs  of  wealth  or  birth.  It 
demanded  proofs  of  self-respect  in  its  candidates.    Thli 


Il8  THE  UNION  LEAGUE  CLUB. 

wta  it*  character  from  the  beginning.  So  far  ai  thli  orlg> 
inal  carefulness  prevails,  the  Club  is  certain  to  maintain 
its  influence.  Its  existence  is  enough  to  make  it  power- 
ful. The  highest  influence  any  Club  can  have,  is  to  cre- 
ate and  hold  together  a  body  of  citizens  each  of  whom 
bears  about  the  honor  of  his  country  with  him,  and  illus- 
trates a  true  Americanism,  in  his  reverence  for  worth 
and  brains  and  public  service,  above  birth,  wealth  and 
ofRce.  Such  a  body  presents  to  young  men  an  ambition 
of  membership  which  exhalts  and  inspires. 

Thingi  hud  not  been  going  forward  favorably  in  public 
affairs  at  this  date  of  the  Club's  life.  The  frauds  which 
the  Congressional  Committee,  appointed  under  investiga- 
tion of  the  Union  League  Club,  had  proven  and  pro- 
claimed, had  not  aroused  public  sentiment  sufficiently  to 
prevent  their  repetition.  Rings  and  conspiracies  were 
detected  in  many  of  our  larger  municipalities,  and  land 
corporations.  The  influence  of  adroit,  but  unscrupulous 
politicians,  was  more  than  enough  to  baffle  what  stilt 
largely  remained  of  the  popular  virtue.  Our  public 
school  system  was  assailed,  and  the  whole  machinery  of 
our  elections  seemed  beyond  the  control  of  the  honest 
majority  of  the  people.  The  usual  corrective  of  party 
watching  party,  each  profiting  by  the  other's  mistakes, 
and  taking  its  turn  in  the  possession  of  power,  had 
failed.  Many  doubted  whether  the  politicians  of  one  side 
were  any  more  trustworthy  than  those  of  the  other,  and 
it  was  freshly  felt  that  safety  and  relief  could  only  pro- 
ceed from  the  union  of  the  honest  and  patriotic  men  of 
both  parties  in  measures  and  by  methods,  that   i^or«d 


THE  UNION  LEAGUE  CLUB.  Up 

the  old  political  machinery.  All  the  more  the  Union 
League  Club  felt  at  this  time  the  need  of  exerting;  its 
utmost  moral  and  personal  influence  in  favor  of  honest 
oflficials  and  honest  government,  especially,  as  from  the 
turn  of  affairs  in  this  state  and  city,  it  drew  no  sympathy 
from  those  in  place  and  power. 

Municipal  Reform,  the  Civil  Service  Bill,  and  the 
Public  School  question,  were  watched  this  year  vigilant- 
ly by  special  committees,  who  made  valuable  reports 
to  the  Club. 

A  special  meeting  was  held  December  30th,  1869, 
commemorative  of  Edwin  M.  Stanton,  whose  recent 
death,  leaving  his  family  in  an  honorable  state  of  pov- 
erty, had  aroused  a  deep  sense  of  his  invaluable  services 
is  Secretary  of  War,  and  an  anxious  desire  to  pay  his 
memory  the  respect  of  making  his  family  objects  of  the 
voluntary  care  of  his  grateful  fellow-citizens. 

A  committee  was  appointed  to  cooperate  with  other 
committees  throughout  the  country  in  raising  this  pro- 
posed fund. 

The  resignation  early  this  year  of  its  President,  Hon. 
John  Jay,  on  the  occasion  of  his  appointment  as  Minister 
to  Austria,  called  forth  earnest  expressions  of  respect  and 
affection  from  the  Club.  He  had  served  the  Club  for 
so  many  years  with  fidelity,  zeal  and  dignity,  that  his 
resignation  was  felt  to  be  a  serious  misfortune,  relieved 
only  by  a  sense  of  satisfaction  in  the  honor  their  Presi- 
dent had  won  for  hi'~.self  and  the  Union  League,  by  the 
country's  call  to  high  diplomatic  honors. 

The  Club  lost  this  year,  by  death,  many  valuable  and 


lao  THE  US'lOff  LEAGUE  CLUB. 

distinguished  members.  Gen.  John  A.  Kawlins,  Hon.  H. 
S.  Walbridgc,  John  J.  Phelps,  P.  De  Forest  Grant,  Joseph 
B.  Brush,  A.  Hutchinson,  William  P.  Jones,  Daniel  G. 
Mason,  and  Frederick  A.  Coe.  At  the  end  of  this  year 
the  balance  in  the  Treasurer's  hands  was  only  $5,441.17, 
its  liabilities  deducted,  showing  that  the  Club  had  by 
its  removal  and  its  late  extraordinary  expenses  used  up 
a  considerable  portion  of  the  reserved  fund. 

The  Annual  Report  for  the  year  ending  December 
31st,  1870,  shows  that  the  total  number  on  the  roll  was 
fourteen  hundred  and  ten.  The  ratio  of  non-resident 
members  had  somewhat  increased  over  that  of  previous 
years,  being  three  hundred  and  eighty,  a  fact  which 
had  its  advantages,  as  it  extended  the  knowledge  and 
influence  of  the  Club  into  various  parts  of  the  country, 
leaving  always  a  sufficient  full-paying  force  of  resident 
members  to  support  and  conduct  the  Club  at  its  centre. 
This  year  was  the  most  successful,  financially,  of  any 
the  Club  had  known,  and  from  it  dates  the  accumu- 
lation which  later  enabled  the  Club  to  proceed  towards 
carrying  out  its  cherished  plan  of  building  a  Club 
House  of  its  own.  The  surplu?  earnings  for  the  year 
1870  were  $28,679.74,  which  carried  the  reserved  fund 
at  a  bound  up  to  $33,014.35.  The  reserve  fund  was 
formally  converted  at  this  time  into  a  building  fund 
which  had  always  been  in  view,  and  a  Board  of  Trus- 
tees were  appointed  to  hold  and  invest  it  with  an 
understanding  that  all  surplus  funds  accumulating  in 
the  Treasury  should  be  annually  turned  over  to  the 
trustee*  of  the   Building   Fund   for  investment.      The 


THE  UNION  LEAGUE  CLUB.  121 

object  was  not  only  to  accumulate  the  means  of  sup- 
plying the  Club  with  a  permanent  home,  but  to  en- 
courage and  enforce  economy  in  the  executive  com- 
mittee by  obliging  them  to  meet  the  annual  expenses 
out  of  the  revenue  of  each  current  year,  without  any 
chance  of  relying  on  the  reserved  fund,  a  temptation 
not  easy  to  resist. 

The  experience  of  the  last  three  years  had  shown 
that  an  average  of  about  ten  per  cent,  of  the  number 
of  resident  members  habitually  used  the  privilege  of 
the  restaurant,  and  nearly  exhausted  the  accommoda- 
tion of  the  house,  which  was  controlled  by  the  capacity 
of  the  kitchen  which  could  not  be  enlarged.  This 
was  deemed  a  suflficient  reason  for  not  increasing  the 
number  of  resident  members,  limited  by  the  rule  of 
the  Club  to  one  thousand.  The  growing  value  of  the 
Club's  property,  its  reputation,  popularity  and  influence, 
diminished  the  number  of  resignatio..j,  and  lengthened 
the  list  of  candidates  for  admission ;  and  it  was  thought 
inadvisable  to  extend  the  number  of  members,  which 
it  was  plain  might  at  any  time  be  done,  as  it  would 
be  inconvenient  and  unfavorable  to  the  rights  of  ex- 
isting members  at  thst  time.  A  committee  to  consider 
the  expediency  of  the  Club's  using  the  privilege  it  had 
of  purchasing  the  property  it  held  on  lease,  at  a  cer- 
tain price,  a  privilege  which  would  expire  April,  1871, 
reported  their  inability  to  agree  upon  the  question, 
and  asked  to  be  excused  from  any  recommendation 
against  or  for,  it. 

This  year,  or  before    the  Annual   Report,   January 


' ' '  THE  UNION  LEAGUE  CL  UB. 

I2th,  1871.  the  Club  lost  many  valued  and  lamcntsd 
members:  William  V.  Brady,  F.  \V.  Coggili,  W.  W. 
Cornell.  Moreau  Delano.  George  Folsom,  John  H. 
Macy.  Frank  B.  Russell,  John  H.  Simkins,  Joseph  A. 
Trowbridge,  James  Kelly,  and  two  of  its  most  distin- 
puished  honorary  members,  Admiral  Farragut,  and 
Major  Gen.  George  H.  Thomas,  both  honored  with 
the  tears   of  the    Nation. 

The    Club   was  this   year    much    exercised    with    the 
debates   in    Congress,   in    regard    to   claims   of     repara- 
tion   for  the     injuries    done    our  commerce   by   the  re- 
missness  of  Great    Britain,   in  allowing   the   cruisers   of 
the    Rebels    to    arm   in  their  ports,   and   go   forth   to 
ravage   our  commercial    marine.      It   aimed    to    stiffen 
the    resolution  of  Congress   to  demand  full   reparation, 
not     merely   as  a   question    of    pecuniary     importance. 
but  as  one  of   national    self-respect  and  vital   to  the   in- 
terests    of    International     Law.       Its  wisdom   has   been 
since  fully  proved   by  the  success  of  that  policy,  which 
it  doubtless  had  some    influence   in   establishing.      The 
Club    continued    this    year    its    efforts    to    procure    pro- 
tection  from   new  legislation   in  Congress.'  for  the  elec- 
tive franchise,  and  records  some  success  in  its  endeavors. 
A   special  meeting   was   held    April   7th,    1870,    to  take 
proper    action    on    the    ratification    of     the    Fifteenth 
Amendment  to  the  Constitution  of  the  United    States. 
It   pushed    likewise    its   investigations  and    its   purifying 
influence    into    our    municipal     frauds.        Every    Annual 
Report  reiterates  the   fundamental  principles  of  loyalty 
•nd  nationality  as  the  pillars  of  our  strength,  and  each 


THE  UNION  LEAGUE  CLUB,  123 

new  report  avows  an  undiminished  sense  of  the  im- 
portance of  maintaining  the  Club  and  adhering  to  the 
spirit  and  following  the  direction  of  its  earlier  years. 
It  is  a  little  difficult  to  say  whether  the  elaborate 
arguments  repeated  in  so  many  forms,  and  by  very 
skilful  pens,  in  the  Annual  Reports,  as  to  the  value 
of  the  original  spirit  of  a  positive  and  heroic  patriotism, 
indicates  a  steady  growth  or  marks  a  slow  decline  in 
the  real  usefulness  and  nationality  of  the  Union  League 
Club.  It  may  do  either;  but  the  review  of  the  records 
which  the  present  writer  has  made,  certainly  indicates 
less  active  work,  more  social  pleasure,  less  passionate 
devotion,  less  personal  concern,  for  the  interests  of  the 
country  as  time  wore  on,  a  natural  course  of  things, 
which  only  a  very  strenuous  and  direct  exertion  on  the 
part  of  the  older  members  of  the  Club  could  pre- 
vent. 

There  was  somethir.g  more  hopeless  and  desperate 
in  the  political,  social  and  'commercial  demoralization 
that  followed  the  war  than  in  the  war  itself.  That  pre- 
sented an  open  enemy,  whom  powder  and  shot  could 
reach  and  overcome;  but  we  had  in  place-of  this  a  secret 
rot,  an  enemy  with  the  invisible  powers  of  a  pestilence, 
a  degraded  public  sentiment,  in  v.hich  the  old  and  pesti- 
lent doctrine  of  the  spoils  to  the  victors  had  changed 
from  an  acknowledged  heresy  into  a  dogma,  not  so  much 
adopted,  as  incarnate  in  the  life  of  parties.  Nothing 
less  than  a  moral  typhoid,  the  consequence  of  a  general 
malaria  in  the  public  air,  can  account  for  the  sinking 
tone  of  public  sentiment  during  the  decade  following  the 


124  THE  UNWN  LEAGUE  CLUB. 

close  of  the  war; — partly  a  reaction  on  the  exalted  pa- 
trioti<ini  that  had  sustained  the  war  unto  victory,  partly 
the  dreadful  result  of  the  unsettling  influence  on  values, 
standards,  habits,  by  the  creation  and  use  of  an  artificial 
currency  that  did  not  carry  its  measure  in  itself,  partly 
by  the  coming  to  the  top  of  powerful  men  who  had  be- 
come suddenly  rich  without  the  aid  of  any  moral  habits. 
or  amenablencss  to  any  refined  or  gentlemanly  standards  ; 
vikings  in  energy,  unscrupulousness  and  violence,  who 
swept  through  the  land  in  railroad  land  grabs,  in  mining 
speculations,  in  purchase  of  legislatu)-es,  in  stock  dilu- 
tions, in  great  corners  on  stock  and  grain  ;  and  who  in- 
toxicated and  poisoned  the  once  sober  blood  of  the 
people,  until  politics  had  become  a  trade,  or  a  gambling 
shop,  and  trade,  a  trial  of  wits,  or  a  turn  of  chance.  A 
profound  distrust  of  American  principles  and  ideas  came 
over  the  better  portion  of  Europe,  as  it  witnessed  this 
consequence  of  the  war  which  had  an  end  so  different 
from  their  predictions  and  hopes.  How  a  nation  that 
had  surprised  Europe  with  its  patriotism  and  its  patience 
after  victory,  could  surprise  it  again  with  its  disgusting 
loss  of  moral  control  in  its  great  centres,  its  Rings  and 
its  Legislative  and  Aldermanic  vileness.  corruption  and 
vulgarity,  and  all  within  a  single  decade,  was  as  dis- 
heartening at  home,  and  as  secretly  demoralizing  even 
to  the  better  half  of  the  American  people,  as  it  was 
taunting  and  distressing  to  those  who  went  abroad  and 
bore  the  ignominy  of  almost  universal  ridicule  and  dis- 
trust. This  decline  in  the  public  tone,  was  not  confined 
to  the  vulgar  and  the  ignorant.     It  afTected   all  ranks 


THE  UNION  LEAGUE  CLUB.  12$ 

and  professions,  perhaps  most  marked  where  it  would 
naturally  be  least  looked  for  and  most  abhorrent,  in 
the  clerical  calling.  No  doubt,  it  affected  injuriously 
many  of  the  leaders  of  all  parties  and  every  school  of 
politics;  the  Senate,  the  Bench,  the  Bar,  and  the  Pulpit 
as  well  as  the  ranks  of  trade  and  the  directors  of  Banks, 
Insurance  Companies,  Savings  Institutions,  and  even 
the  Boards  of  Education.  Probably  the  original  influ- 
ence of  the  Club  was  never  more  needed  than  just 
when  it  became  most  difficult  to  maintain  it.  We  have 
had  nothing  to  be  ashamed  of,  measured  by  the  pub- 
lic standards,  at  any  time.  It  is  our  own  original 
standard  that  admonishes  us,  and  it  is  only  when 
comparing  ourselves  with  that,  that  we  must  acknowl- 
edge some  falling  away  from  our  first  enthusiasm, 
and  our  original  ai.ns,  in  certain  somewhat  monoto- 
nous and   inefficient  years  in   the   life   of   the   Club. 

A  proposition  for  three  or  four  monthly  reunions, 
in  which  ladies  might  be  invited  to  participate  in  the 
social  advantages  of  the  Club,  was  introduced  by  the 
Executive  Committee  this  year,  and  was  carried  out 
for  several  years,  more  or  less  frequently,  with  the 
gratification  of  the  younger  and  the  hearty  coopera- 
tion of  many  of  the  older  members  of  the  Club. 
Meanwhile,  general  harmony  and  courtesy  of  fellow- 
ship marked  all  the  intercourse  of  the  Union  League 
Club  among   its  own   members. 

During  the  year  i8;i,  the  Club  lost  by  death  eight 
of  its  members:  William  A.  Budd,  Henry  T.  Ingalls, 
Gouvemeur  M.  Wilkins,  Capt.  C.  D.    MehafTey,    Fred- 


ia6  THE  UNION  LEAGUE  CLUB. 

erick  C.  Swcetscr,  and  Henry  T.  Tuckerman;  also  one 
from  the  roll  of  honorary  members,  Major  Gen.  Robert 
Anderson.  The  number  of  members  at  the  close  of 
the  year  was,  of  resident  members  nine  hundred  and 
sixty  two  ;  non-resident,  four  hundred  and  twenty.  The 
surplus  for  the  year  was  $29,696.27.  The  Club'  had  no 
debt. 


VI. 


THE   NEW  YORK    RING    AND    OTHER    POLITICAL 
CORRUPTIONS   ENCOUNTERED. 

This  year,  1871,  was  memorable  for  a  grand  popular  re- 
action against  the  progress  of  corruption  in  our  political 
affairs.  For  the  time  the  reaction  looked  thorough  and 
final.  It  had  the  force  of  a  hurricane,  and  promised  to 
leave  nothing  standing  of  the  evils  it  assailed,  while  puri- 
fying the  political  atmosphere  of  the  malaria  that  had 
nearly  sapped  our  institutions  of  life  itself.  The  Club  lent 
its  support  to  this  movement,  which  was  too  large  to  be 
directed  or  controlled,  and  was  independent  of  parties 
and  formal  associations.  It  was  the  gigantic  struggle  of 
the  popular  heart  with  what  was  just  ready  to  stop  its 
beat.  An  association,  largely  composed  of  members  of 
this  Club,  had  been  steadily  preparing  for  several  years 
for  a  regeneration  of  the  political  life  of  New  York. 
The  Union  League  Club  exerted  its  main  influence 
through  that  association,  and  it  was  always  more  or  less 
efficient  because  always  working  in  the  interest  of  loy- 
alty,  integrity  and  justice.     A    committee  on    Political 


THE  UNION  LEAGUE  CLUB.  1 27 

Reform,  composed  of  energetic  and  fearless  men,  was 
constituted  this  year,  which,  by  labors  at  Albany  and 
with  the  Citizens  Association,  and  by  reports  and  circu- 
lars, rendered  substantial  and  valuable  service.  Dexter 
A.  Hawkins,  George  W.  Blunt,  George  Bliss,  Jr.,  Charles 
Watrous,  Chauncey  M.  Depew,  William  M.  Prichard, 
John  D.  Lawson,  William  H.  H.  Moore,  Charles  Collins, 
Horace  M.  Ruggles,  Joseph  W.  Howe,  William  Laim- 
beer,  Jr.,  John  I.  Davenport,  composed  this  committee ; 
their  names  sufficiently  attest  the  energy,  spirit,  direction 
and  efficacy  of  the  work  they  accomplished. 

Early  in  the  year  1872  the  Club  passed  a  resolution  re- 
questing the  Legislature  not  to  adjourn  until  it  had 
passed  laws  against  appropriation  of  property  or  money 
to  sectarian  use,  and  against  the  exemption  direct  or 
indirect,  to  or  in  favor  of  any  religious  sect  or  denomina- 
tion. Also  to  pass  a  general  license  laW  in  regard  to  the 
sale  of  liquor;  and  later  in  the  year  a  protest  against  the 
action  of  the  Mayor  in  attempting  to  deprive  the  people 
of  the  city  of  the  fruits  of  the  two  reform  victories  at 
the  election  of  this  year  and  last. 

This  year  was  the  most  fatal  in  our  history  to  the  lives 
of  our  members,  twenty  having  passed  away  within  its 
limits:  Francis  M.  Babcock,  Simeon  Baldwin,  J.  H. 
Foster,  Horace  Greeley,  John  F.  Kensett,  Josiah  Lane, 
George  P.  Putnam,  Lewis  B.  Stone,  John  David 
Wolfe,  Francis  Lieber,  Coleman  T.  Robinson,  H.  Wor- 
cester, resident  members;  and  Henry  V.  Butler,  George 
Coffing,  B.  M.  C.  Durfee,  John  A.  Griswold,  Llewellyn 
S.  Haskell,  John  L.  King,  William  S.  Smith,  George  C. 
Satterlce,  non-residents. 


128  THE  UNION  LEAGUE  CLUB. 

In  March  of  this  year,  the  By-Laws  were  so  amended 
that  the  Library  and  Publication  Committees  were  united 
under  the  title  of  "  The  Committee  on  Library  and  Pub- 
lications," and  charged  with  the  duties  of  both  com- 
mittees. This  action  increased  the  committee  to  fourteen, 
which  was  afterwards  reduced,  by  a  further  change  in  the 
By-Laws,  to  seven  members,  the  present  number. 

The  library  had  now  made  considerable  advancement. 
By  donations  and  purchases,  many  books,  papers  and 
periodicles  had  been  added  ;  such  distinguished  donors 
as  Hon.  W.  H.  Seward,  Hon.  E.  M.Stanton,  Hon.  Hugh 
McCuUoch,  Thos.  Bailey  Potter,  and  others,  members  of 
the  Club,  contributing.  The  first  catalogue  had  been 
Issued  by  the  Committee  of  1867,  reflecting  credit  upon 
the  chairman,  Mr.  Albert  Mathews,  in  its  preparation, 
which  now  became  useful  in  classifying  the  increased 
number  and  diversity  of  the  books. 

The  year  1873  was  marked  by  a  continued  financial 
•ucccss  in  the  affairs  of  the  Club,  somewhat  remarkable, 
as  it  was  the  beginning  of  the  season  of  commercial  de- 
pression, which  weighed  for  six  succeeding  years  upon 
the  country  and  the  world.  A  surplus  of  $26,000  was 
handed  over  to  the  Building  Fund  Trustees;  the  com- 
mittee reporting  that  in  four  years,— January,  1870,  to 
January,  1874, — the  savings  of  the  Club  had  risen  from 
$5.441. 17  to  $122,000  in  U.  S.  bonds,  or  a  currency  value 
of  $140,000.  The  Club  maintained  its  membership ;  nine 
hundred  and  sixty-seven  resident,  three  hundred  and 
ninty-nine  non-resident ;  total,  one  thousand  three  hun- 
dred and  tixty-six. 


THE  UNION  LEAGUE  CLUB.  1 29 

In  their  report  January,  iS/v  the  committee  on  Politi- 
cal Reform  reported  to  the  Club  the  result  of  their  inves- 
tigations. 

1.  On  the  appropriation  of  public  money  to  sectarian 
institutions. 

2.  The  abuses  of  the  license  and  permit  bureau  of  the 
city. 

3.  The  donation  of  public  streets  to  private  corpora- 
tions. 

The  pamphlet  wa?  ordered  to  be  published  and  circu- 
lated. The  Club  also  passed  a  resolution  in  regard  to 
protesting  the  new  city  charter,  pending  before  the  Leg- 
islature, which  proposed  to  legislate  certain  office-holders 
into  a  continuation  of  their  tenure.  Resolutions  were 
passed  in  May  against  an  elective  judiciary. 

The  political  record  was  mainly  dae  to  the  labors  of 
the  committee  on  Political  Reform.  Mr.  Dorman  B. 
Eaton,  its  chairman,  prepared  a  very  able  pamphlet  on  an 
elective  judiciary.  This  committee  u.sed  the  influence  of 
the  Club  at  Albany  in  favor  of  "  the  appointment  of  Po- 
lice  Justices,"  as  against  their  election ;  and,  in  favor  of 
"  the  Abolition  of  Taxes  now  levied  upon  investments 
on  Bonds  and  Mortgages."  The  Art  Committee,  was 
liberally  encouraged  by  appropriations  of  the  Club  to  in- 
crease the  attractions  of  the  Club  House,  and  to  keep  up 
what  had  for  some  time  been  a  pleasant  enterprise, 
monthly  exhibitions  in  the  gallery. 

The  losses  by  death  were  many  during  the  year  closing 
December  31st,  1873.  Lansing  C.  Moore,  John  Arm- 
strong,  Benjamin   F.  Breeden,    Timothy  G.  Churchill, 


13°  THE  UNIOS  LEAGUE  CLUB. 

Thomas  H.  Failc,  Alpheus  Fobes,  Jed.  Frye,  Joseph 
Fagnani,  John  A.  Kennedy,  Peter  McMartin,  Francis  H- 
Schenck,  R.  W.  Weston,  Frank  W.  Worth,  resident 
members;  and  John  F.  Butterworth,  Jonah  Howe, 
Charles  H.  Mitchell,  A.  N.  Ramsdeli,  and  General  W.  H. 
Sidell,  non-resident  members.  The  report  of  the  com- 
mittee on  Political  Reform  for  this  year  is  the  chief  re- 
cord of  the  political  action  of  the  Club  for  this  period. 
It  was  published  and  -vidcly  circulated. 

The  year  1874  was  one  of  little  special  or  definable 
importance  in  the  action  and  life  of  the  Club.  A  general 
gloom  had  settled  over  trade  and  commerce.  The  con- 
vulsion of  reform  in  our  municipal  politics  had  accom- 
plished much,  but  not  half  what  it  promised.  The  Club- 
remained  solid  in  its  membership  and  continued  its  work 
In  its  committees,  but  in  ways  not  brought  much  inta 
public  view,  nor  recognized  as  its  work,  though  carried 
forward  largely  by  its  members.  It  still  announced  the 
importance  of  its  principles,  and  the  need  of  organization 
to  maintain  them,  and  professed  its  undiminished  faith 
in  the  value  of  loyally  and  nationality.  No  striking  dis- 
position to  fall  off  in  numbers  at  any  time  appeared ;  but, 
certainly,  attendance  on  the  meetings  or  frequcntation  of 
the  Club  House  grew  less,  and  the  Club  became  more 
and  more  a  place  of  social  convenience,  or  meeting  place 
of  members  to  discuss  their  own  afTair  with  each  other, 
than  of  high  patriotic  discussions  and  generous  ardor  in 
matters  of  public  importance. 

The  pecuniary  interests  of  the  Club  were  becoming  an 
increasing  bond  of  connection  and  received  a  very  prudent 


THE  UNION  LEAGUE  CLUB.  13I 

care  from  the  Treasurer,  Executive  Committee,  and  the 
Trustees  of  the  Building  Fund.  Foreseeing  the  natural 
increase  of  the  fund,  the  Executive  Committee  obtained 
from  the  Legislature,  an  amendment  of  their  cnarter 
authorizing  the  Club  to  hold  real  estate  to  the  value  of 
$1,500,000.  The  Building  Fund  ran  up  to  $167,000 
reckoned  in  currency.  Resolutions  were  passed  by  the 
Club  against  any  action  by  Congress  that  would  tend  to 
inflate  the  currency,  and  later  in  the  year  pledging  itself 
to,  and  in  behalf  of  the  adoption  of,  the  pending  amend* 
ment  to  the  Constitution  of  the  State.  The  most  inter- 
esting social  event  of  the  year,  having  also  some  political 
importance,  was  the  reception  by  the  Club  of  the  Right 
Hon.  William  E.  Forster,  M.  P.  This  statesman,  an 
English  friend  of  America,  who  had  so  long  cooperated 
with  John  Bright,  that  Mr.  Seward  once  said  to  the  pres- 
ent annalist  in  answer  to  his  question,  "  whether  there 
were  any  truth  in  the  rumor  that  the  United  States  Gov- 
ernment were  about  offering  to  send  a  national  vessel  to 
England  to  bring  Mr.  Bright  to  this  country."  "  No, 
sir,  and  he  would  not  come.  He  knows  too  veil  the 
.  danger,  which  every  wise  statesman  dreads,  of  finding 
himself  more  popular  in  a  foreign  country,  than  in  ht» 
own."  Mr.  Forster  might  have  dreaded  the  same,  when 
he  saw  the  enthusiasm  with  which  he  was  received  by 
an  unusual  and  highly  representative  body  of  Americans, 
at  the  Union  League  Club.  He  made  an  effective 
speech,  in  reply  to  the  felicitous  address  of  the  President 
of  the  Club,  Mr.  Choate,  full  of  wisdom  and  satisfactory 
to  Englishmen  and  Americans  both. 


132  THE  UNION  LEAGUE  CLUB. 

The  following  members  died  during  the  year  1874. 
James  Winslow,  William  A.  Fitzhugh,  Jeremiah  Loth- 
rop,  Joseph  B.  Vamum,  Thomas  Christy,  P.  R.  Hoff- 
man, H.  W.  Warner,  J.  F.  De  Peyster,  John  Adriance, 
Jonathan  Sturges,  John  Whitley  Moore,  and  William  H. 
Raynor,  resident  members ;  and  Robert  S.  Dumont, 
Gen.  George  L.  Hartsuff,  G.  G.  Hastings,  David  B.  Mel- 
lish,  J.  C.  Sandford,  George  F.  Lee,  R.  A.  Forsyth, 
Gen.  R.  O.  Tyler,  E.  P.  Cowles,  Charles  C.  Alger,  John 
H.  Holdane,  and  John  G.  Vose,  non-residents. 

The  report  of  the  Executive  Committee  for  this  year, 
(dated  January  14th,  1875),  concludes  with  the  following 
prophetic  appeal : 

The  coming  year  promises  to  be  one  of  activity  for 
the  Club.  Grave  questions  of  supreme  public  interest 
are  opening  for  the  consideration  of  all  thoughtful  citi- 
icns  of  the  republic.  The  ten  years  which  have  elapsed 
since  the  war  of  the  rebellion  have  not  brought  that 
peace  to  the  reconstructed  states  which  was  hoped  for. 
General  prostration  and  distrust  in  the  business  com- 
munity betoken  disease  in  the  body  politic.  Dangerous 
theories  of  finance,  threatening  the  national  honor  in  the 
payment  of  the  debt  incurred  for  the  nation's  preserva- 
tion, find  their  advocates.  The  antagonism  between 
labor  and  capital  is  not  allayed.  A  Presidential  election 
is  looming  up  in  the  near  future,  and  the  year  just  open- 
ed will  practically  decide  the  issue  of  that  campaign.  A 
proper  public  sentiment  is  to  be  fostered  on  all  these  sub- 
jects, and  surely  no  wider  field  could  be  open  for  our  «c- 
tivity  nor  better  forum  found  than  the  meeting-place  of 
the  Club.  True  to  the  traditions  of  its  past,  the  Club 
cannot  fail  to  exert  a  powerful  influence  for  good  on  the 
destiny  of  our  beloved  country. 


THE  UNION  LEAGUE  CLUB.  133 

The  most  notable  domestic  event  this  year  (1873)  was 
the  serious  damage  done  by  a  fire  (on  April  25th)  to  the 
Club  House.  Water  flooding  the  house  did  more  dam- 
age than  the  fire,  and  rendered  it  for  four  months  unten- 
antable. The  library  and  works  of  art  mainly  escaped 
injury.  The  Club  sustained  no  pecuniary  loss  by  the 
fire.  The  interruption  was  trying  to  the  interests  of  the 
Club,  but  borne  with  fortitude.  The  building  fund  in- 
creased in  spite  of  some  decline  in  the  membership,  and 
was  reckoned  at  the  close  of  the  year  at  $205,967.36  in 
currency.  The  furniture  and  works  of  art  were  esti- 
mated at  a  value  of  $50,000.  The  hospitality  of  the 
New  York  Travelers,  the  Army  and  Navy,  and  the  Lotos 
Clubs,  extended  to  us  in  our  homeless  condition,  attest- 
ed the  good-will  of  our  neighbors  and  fellow-citirens. 
The  Club  took  repossession  of  its  old  quarters  on  Sep- 
tember 4th.  November  23d  a  brilliant  reception  was 
given  to  Lord  Houghton,  who  had  himself  been  known 
to  many  Americans,  not  only  by  his  liberal  politics,  but 
by  his  zeal  for  letters,  his  broad  sympathy  with  all  forms 
of  culture  and  art,  his  presidency  on  many  occasions  of 
English  hospitality  to  genius,  his  hospitality  to  exiles 
from  other  lands  and  sympathy  with  worth  and  sorrow 
whenever  found,  and  known  to  alt  scholars  by  his  felicit- 
ous skill  as  a  poet,  whose  name  as  Monckton  Milnes  no 
lordship  could  conceal  or  enhance. 

During  the  year  1875  the  Club  lost  by  death  George 
T.  Strong,  honorary  member  and  one  of  its  founders, 
William  T.  Blodgett,  George  C.  Collins,  Benjamin  L. 
Hardon,  William  Allen,  Thomas  Gardrer,  Jr.,  John  B. 


134  THE  UNION  LEAGUE  CLUB. 

Dickinson,  Edward  S.  Brooks,  S.  A.  Mills,  George  H. 
Mumford,  Henry  K.  Bogart,  Ogden  Haggerty,  William 
Hegeman,  Benjamin  F.  Wheelwright,  resident  mem- 
bers; and  Samuel  S.  Keene,  William  E.  Morris,  Alfred 
Lockwood,  G.  Russell  Greenough,  Edward  King,  John 
•  B.  Church,  W.  S.  Blackinton,  non-resident  members. 

The  Executive  Committee  closed  their  annual  report, 
dated  January  13th,  1876,  with  the  following  words: 

In  closing  their  annual  report,  the  committee  deem  it 
a  matter  of  profound  congratulation  to  the  Club  that  the 
opening  of  the  centennial  year  finds  the  country  forever 
free  from  the  blight  of  human  slavery;  that  the  import- 
ant question  of  an  honest  currency  is  rapidly  being  set- 
tled upon  a  solid  basis  of  intelligent  public  opinion ;  that 
signs  of  returning  confidence  in  business  affairs  open  the 
way  to  reward  honest  and  well-directed  enterprise;  and 
that  in  national,  state  and  municipal  affairs  we  may  hope 
for  a  higher  measure  of  moral  power  and  individual  re- 
sponsibility on  the  part  of  those  who  are  called  to  ad- 
minister these  public  trusts. 

Upon  all  questions  of  political  and  social  reform,  the 
Club  will  remain  true  to  iti  original  motto  of  "uncondi' 
tional  loyalty." 

The  external  prosperity  of  the  Club,  continued  through 
1376-7.  The  whole  number  of  names  on  the  roll  was 
thirteen  hundred  and  seventeen, — nine  hundred  and  fifty- 
two  resident  and  three  hundred  and  sixty-five  non-resi- 
dent  members.  The  addition  to  the  building  fund,  was 
$16,000  United  States  five-twenty  bonds  and  $29.23  in 
cash.  The  conserA'ative  policy  still  prevailed  in  the 
management  of  the  finances,  and  a  surplus  of  $21,764-38 


THE  UNION  LEAGUE  CLUB.  135 

remained  in  the  hands  of  the  treasurer.  The  building 
fund  was  increased  by  this  amount,  and  reckoned  at  the 
<lose  of  the  year  at  $195,000  of  United  States  bonds 
aX  par, — currency  value,  $222,000, — and  a  balance  of 
4289.58  in  currency.  The  renewal  of  the  lease  of  the 
Jerome  property  was  still  agitated,  but  without  arriving 
at  any  determination.  A  committee  had  been  ap- 
pointed "on  the  selection  of  a  building  site,"  which 
made  a  report  and  matured  a  financial  scheme  looking 
to  the  erection  of  a  permanent  Club  House,  but  action 
-was  still  suspended. 

.  This  year  (1876)  the  Club  lost  two  of  its  officers, 
Alexander  T.  Stewart  and  Dr.  L.  De  Forest  Woodruff ; 
also  John  C.  Green,  Edmund  A.  Smith,  S.  Morris  Locke, 
Thomas  D.  Sargent,  Jr.,  Hubbard  Arnold,  William  Ward 
Dorr,  Dwight  A.  Ripley,  John  Auchincloss,  Marshal 
Lefferts,  F.  E.  Lathrop,  Jefferson  Coddington,  C.  B. 
Kendall,  W.  K.  Kitchen,  Elisha  Brooks,  John  A.  Man- 
ning,  resident  members;  and  James  Lorimer  Graham, 
Henry  P.  Haven,  G.  H.  Cushman,  W.  R.  Vermilye, 
non-resident  members. 

Special  efforts  were  made  this  year  to  improve  the  ex> 
hibitions  of  art  at  the  monthly  meetings,  which  increased 
-the  attractions  of  the  Club  House  for  men  of  culture, 
and  added  some  valued  names  to  the  membership.  The 
■Club  showed  a  disposition  to  fortify  itself  in  the  aesthetic 
<]irection  against  any  losses  it  might  be  called  to  bear 
from  decline  in  political  zeal — a  policy  which,  though 
natural,  was  not  without  danger,  the  better  course  being 
to  amend  and  strengthen  the  political  ardor  of  the  Club 


'3^  THE  UNION  LEAGUE  CLUB. 

by  direct  methods,  and   not   by  drawing  life  from  sources- 
not  ori(;inal  and  vital  to  its  history. 

Mr.  Carl  Schurtz  was  inform.iily  received  at  the  Club, 
October  2ist,  1876,  and  made  an  excellent  address  on  the 
issues  of  the  Presidential  campaign.  President  White- 
read  an  instructive  and  highly  pertinent  paper,  "  On  the 
paper  money  inflation  in  France,  how  it  began,  what  it 
brought,  and  how  it  ended,"  on  April  13th,  1876. 

The  year  was  marked  with  the  usual  agitation  and  ex- 
citement attendant  on  a  Presidential  election,  and  the 
wishes  and  influence  of  the  Club  were  thrown  into  the 
Republican  scale,  the  Club,  by  a  resolution,  March,  1876, 
declaring  that  "The  Union  League  Club  claim  to  repre- 
sent, and  believe  they  truly  express,  the  sentiments  of 
the  Republican  voters  of  the  city  of  New  York."  And 
by  another  resolution,  May,  1876,  that  "The  Club, 
though  recognizing  paramount  allegiance  to  public  duty 
and  honor,  is  yet  loyal  to  the  principles  of  the  Repub- 
lican party,  as  being  most  in  the  spirit  of  allegiance  and 
•trongest  in  the  intelligence  and  virtue  of  the  f>eople." 

The  committee  on  Political  Reform  submitted  a  report, 
dated  January  8lh,  1877,  which  set  forth  with  unusual 
clearness  and  boldness  the  political  sentiments  of  the 
Club;  instancing  the  questions  on  which  the  Gub  had 
taken  distinct  sides.  "  For  example," — to  quote  thia 
valuable  document  to  be  found  in  print,  among  the  an- 
nual reports  of  January  nth,  1877  "—it  declared  itlelf:" 

(i.)  For  more  stringent  laws  for  securing  greater 
publicity  to  official  action  and  to  the  facts  and  influences- 
bjr  which  public  officera  have  been  governed. 


THE  UNION  LEAGUE  CLUB.  137 

(2.)  For  longer  terms  of  office  on  the  part  of  members 
of  the  State  Legislature ;  to  the  end  that  they  may 
bring  into  the  halls  of  Legislation  that  wider  knowledge 
and  experience  so  much  needed  in  the  discharge  of 
their  duties. 

(3.)  For  laws  which  shall  require  public  officers  to 
employ  labor,  and  purchase  supplies  for  public  use,  at 
rates,  having  the  same  regard  to  value  and  market  prices, 
which  would  govern  an  honest  and  discreet  citizen  in 
securing  labor  and  supplies  in  his  private  business. 

(4.)  For  a  systematic  reform  in  the  civil  services,  whic. 
will  not  allow  official  places  to  be  the  mere  perquisites  of 
partisans  or  the  spoils  of  political  victory,  but  which  will 
give  such  places  to  persons  of  worth  and  capacity,  who 
are  faithful  to  the  Constitution  and  the  Nation. 

(5.)  For  a  Presidential  candidate  who  has  no  connec- 
tion, direct  or  indirect,  with  the  errors  and  abuses  which 
have  brought  reproach  upon  the  country  and  the  domi- 
nant party,  etc. 

This  report  further  illustrated  the  Club's  paramount 
allegiance  to  duty  rather  than  to  party,  by  quoting  its 
action  in  approving  the  course  of  Governor  Tilden's 
Canal  Reform  Policy,  opposed,  as  it  was,  to  his  general 
politics. 

The  report  incorporates  a  portion  of  a  former  report 
of  its  committee  on' a  resolution  in  which  the  Club  had 
somewhat  unwittingly  committed  itself  to  the  idea  that 
it  might  properly  participate  in  a  partisan  manner  in  the 
details  of  a  state  canvass.  The  committee  carefully  de- 
fine and  discriminate  the  differences  between  earnest 
fidelity  to  a  national  policy,  when  it  happens  to  be  a  party 
policy,  and  is  directly  opposed  by  another  party,  and 


IjS  THE  UNION  LEAGUE  CLUB. 

partisanship  proper,  which  is  the  support  and  advocacy 
of  measures,  without  regard  to  their  national  bearing,  but 
simply  because  they  have  become  or  have  been  adopted 
as  party  measures.  It  maintains  the  right  and  duty  of 
the  Club  to  support  its  own  principles  wiierever  it  finds 
them,  and  to  aid  any  party  that  best  represents  them,  but 
never  for  the  sake  of  the  party,  always  for  the  sake  of  the 
principles.  "  It  will,  therefore,  in  the  opinion  of  your 
committee  be  more  useful  in  the  long  range,  and  more  in 
harmony  with  the  conditions  upon  which  a  Club  like  this 
can  prosper,  to  adhere  to  the  advocacy  of  sound  princi- 
ples and'not  take  part  in  conducting  the  canvass,  how- 
ever un«tisfactory  for  the  moment  that  policy  may  be 
to  the  spirit  of  partisanship." 

The  concluding  paragraphs  of  this  report  are  of  such 
permanent  value,  that  we  adopt  them  as  a  part  of  the 
history  of  the  Club. 

In  conclusion,  your  Committee  wish  to  draw  your  seri- 
ous attention  to  the  facts  that  the  thoughtful  activity 
and  reforming  enterprise  of  the  Club  hardly  keep  pace 
with  its  financial  prosperity  and  its  social  attractions. 

In  its  early  history,  its  active  patriotism,  its  frequent 
and  fearless  debates,  and  its  numerous  and  able  contribu- 
tions to  the  political  literature  of  the  times,  secured  for 
the  Union  League  Club  a  proud  national  reputation, 
which  up  to  this  time,  has  continued  to  bring  members  to 
its  ranks  and  money  to  its  treasury.  We  cannot  always 
prosper  upon  an  inherited  fame.  By  reason  of  our  own 
doings,  we  must  secure  honor,  or  suffer  humilitation,  in 
the  future. 

The  one  prominent  feature  which  distinguishes  thii 
from   most   other  clubs,  and   which   has   unquestionably 


THE  UNION  LEAGUE  CLUB.  139 

made  it  more  prosperous  than  any  other,  is  the  fact  that 
it  is  a  Club  for  debr-.tes  and  for  thoughtful  action  in  the 
sphere  of  principle  and  reform,  not  less  than  a  Club  for 
social  enjoyment  and  recreation.  It  is  that  peculiar 
feature  which  makes  it  possible  for  the  Club  to  have  a 
high  national  reputation,  and  for  its  membership  to 
confer  honor  as  well  as  secure  pleasure.  If  such  be  the 
facts,  its  best  friend  should  not  be  satisfied,  though  its 
wines  improve,  its  dinners  become  better,  its  billiard 
tables  and  bowling  alleys  be  more  frequented,  and  even 
Its  accumulated  funds  increase:  if  at  the  same  time  its 
faith  and  courage  shall  decay,  its  debates  shall  be  dwarfed 
and  its  contributions  to  the  political  thought  and  reform- 
ing power  of  the  country  shall  become  less.  Once,  at 
least,  since  our  last  published  report,  the  action  of  the 
Club,  on  a  political  subject,  has  risen  to  the  high  spirit  of 
its  early  days,  and  its  moral  influence  was  very  great  and 
salutary;  but,  more  than  once,  no  quorum  could  be  se- 
cured for  the  discussion  of  important  questions  within 
the  sphere  of  its  avowed  objects;  and  it  declined  to  con- 
tribute from  its  funds,  or  by  its  action,  to  the  passage  of 
amendments  of  vital  importance  to  the  Constitution 
of  New  York. 

And  upon  other  paramount  subjects,  its  action  has,  to 
say  the  least,  not  been  very  vigorous.  In  the  present 
grave  crisis  of  our  national  affairs,  the  voice  of  this  Club 
has  not  been  heard.  It  was  not  silent  in  presence  of 
serious  issues  in  its  earlier  days. 

No  one,  who  properly  appreciates  the  conditions  upon 
which  a  club  can  prosper,  will  underrate  the  importance 
of  those  elements  which  measure  its  social  attractions. 
Bread  alone,  or  bread  with  resolutions,  is  by  no  means 
an  adeqate  club  diet. 

A  club  is,  of  course,  at  liberty  to  claim  for  itself  no 
higher  object  than  mere  amusement  or  selfish  comfo^is. 


140  THE  UNION  LEAGUE  CLUB. 

New  York  has  had  many  such  clubs ;  and  the  decay  or 
death  of  not  a  few  of  them  will  be  worthy  our  study,  if 
ever  we  propose  confining  ourselves  to  that  sphere.  But 
we  have  made  proclamation  of  a  higher  standard.  By  it, 
we  are  likely  to  be  judtjcd.  Our  fourth  Article  of  Asso- 
ciation declares  that:  "  It  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  Club 
to  resist  and  expose  corruption,  and  promote  reform  in 
our  national,  state  and  municipal  aflairs;  and  to  elevate 
the  idea  of  American  citizenship."  If  that  duty,  thus 
conspicuously  proclaimed,  is  not  performed,  its  neglect 
will  be  our  dishonor.  We  all  know  that  it  is  speech  and 
action — wise,  disinterested  and  fearless  speech  and  action 
— which  reform  abuses,  and  elevate  the  standard  of  citi- 
zenship. 

Your  Committee  have  no  love,  and  claim  no  right,  of 
exhortation  ;  but  the  fact  that  our  By-Laws  declare  that 
"  the  Committee  on  Political  Reform  shall  have  general 
charge  of  all  matters  coming  under  the  fourth  Article  of 
Association,"  just  quoted,  seems  to  call  for  these  obser- 
vations at  this  time. 

All  of  which  is  respectfully  submitted. 

D.  B.  EATON, 

Chair 


No  more  serious,  no  plainer,  no  more  memorable  words 
than  these  have  ever  been  used  in  reference  to  the  in- 
ternal life,  the  proper  objects  and  true  spirit  of  the  Club. 
It  will  be  well  for  the  Union  League  Club,  if  it  takes 
them  to  heart,  and  carries  out  their  suggestions,  and 
accepts  their  warnings  in  its  future  career. 

The  Reports  and  Minutes  for  the  year  1877-8,  show  a 
somewhat  meagre  life  during  that  twelve  months.  There 
was  a  decrease  of  at  least  fifty  in  the  list  of  resident  mem- 
bers;  the    number  for  this   year  being  only   nine   hun- 


THE  UNION  LEAGUE  CLUB.   ■  U' 

dred  and  one  against  nine  hundred  and  fifty-two  for  the 
previous  year;  the  non-residents  remained  the  same, 
three  hundred  and  sixty-five.  The  amount  of  fees  was 
$6,315  less  than  for  1876-77,  but  economy  in  manage- 
ment  of  house  expenses  partly  balanced  this  decline, 
so  that  the  surplus  fell  short  for  the  last  year  only 
by  $3,351.72.  It  amounted  to  $18,412.56,  carrying  the 
building  fund  up  to  $235,000  in  currency. 

The  committee  effected  an  extension  of  the  lease  of 
the  Jerome  property  for  two  years,  from  May  ist,  1878, 
when  the  original  lease  expired,  and  urged  the  project  of 
a  permanent  Club  House,  the  site  to  be  procured,  and 
the  building  '.o  be  erected  before  May  ist,  1880. 

The  Club  lost  this  year,  1877,  the  following  meir.bers  : 
John  H.  White,  E.  H.  Carle,  Harris  Pardee,  William  J. 
Beebe,  'oseph  Gaillard,  Francis  Copcutt,  Philip  M.  Oak- 
ley, D.  J.  Ely,  Josepn  Ripley,  Lewis  Francis,  Augustus 
L.  Richards,  Moses  H.  Grinnell,  and  William  H.  Marvin, 
resident  members;  and  J.  Butler  Wright,  non-resident 
member. 

A  loan  of  valuable  pictures,  secured  by  the  influence 
and  zeal  of  the  Art  Committee,  through  its  efficient 
Secretary,  Mr.  Cyrus  Butler,  added  much  to  the  attrac- 
tions of  the  Club  House  during  the  summer  of  this 
year.  Mention  should  have  been  earlier  made  of  the 
services  of  the  Club  in  contributing  to  the  origin  of,  if 
it  did  not  create,  that  valuable  institution,  the  Metro- 
politan Museum  of  Art.  As  early  as  October,  1869, 
Mr.  Putnam,  Chairman  of  the  Art  Committee,  made  a 
special  report  on  the  subject  of  a  National  Rtpository 


142  THE  UNION  LEAGUE  CLUB. 

of  Art,  and  at  a  subsequent  meeting  of  the  Club 
stirring  speeches  were  made  in  support  of  the  move- 
ment, which  later  took  the  form  of  a  Metropolitan 
Museum  of  Art,  so  that  by,  January,  1870,  an  efficient 
association  had  been  formed  to  perfect  the  work  origi- 
nated ,in  the  Club.  The  library,  considerably  increased, 
was,  by  the  judicious  action  of  the  House  Committee 
of  this  year,  moved  from  the  third  to  the  second  story 
of  the  Club  House.  In  January,  the  usual  ladies  re- 
ception was  given  with  its  wonted  brilliancy.  The 
President  of  the  United  States  and  Mrs.  Hayes  were 
received  later  in  the  year,  (Dec.  21st,  1877),  with  great 
enthusiasm,  and  by  a  notable  gathering  of  invited  guests. 
Both  the  Executive  Committee  and  the  Committee  on 
Political  Reform  note  the  few  acts  of  the  Club  meriting 
special  mention  in  the  year  1877-8.  The  internal  affairs 
of  the  Club  had  engrossed  the  members,  which  is  to  say 
that  political  affairs  after  the  Presidential  election  had 
subsided  into  comparative  calmness,  that  commerce  and 
trade  were  inactive,  that  the  currency  question  was 
absorbing,  that  the  Republican  party  was  discouraged 
with  its  leaders,  not  having  well  understood  what  could, 
and  what  could  not,  be  done  by  Congress  or  the 
Administration  under  existing  circumstances.  The 
Committee  on  Political  Reform,  reported  that  "  the 
action  of  the  Club,"  upon  subjects  falling  within  their 
sphere  "had  been  more  limited  than  in  past  years." 
The  period  had  been  one  of  unusual  disagreement  in  the 
Republican  party,  and  serious  differences  of  opinion 
upon  important  questions  of  public  policy  and  ofHcial 


THE  UNION  LEAGUE  CLUB.  143 

duty  within  the  Club.  Forbearance  had  seemed  essential 
to  unity  and  good  fellowship,  silence  was  safer  than 
speech,  and  the  committee  refrained  from  reporting  even 
upon  matters  to  which  it  had  given  much  attention. 
But  to  show  that  at  least  a  great  majority  of  the  Club 
were  still  faithful  to  old  principles,  the  committee  had 
reported  a  scries  of  resolutions  which  were  adopted  by 
the  Club,  in  which  it  was  declared  : — 

(i.)  That  this  Club  has  always  been  identified  with 
the  principles  of  the  Republican  party. 

(2.)  That  the  temper  of  the  public  mind  should  ad- 
monish us  that  the  supremacy  of  that  party,  in  the  future, 
will  depend  less  upon  the  want  of  merit  in  its  adversaries, 
or  upon  its  own  professions,  or  upon  its  noble  achieve- 
ments in  its  early  years,  than  it  will  upon  the  real  char- 
acter of  the  party  and  its  doings  through  the  Administra- 
tion it  has  elected. 

(3.)  That  it  will  be  unsafe  for  the  party  to  allow  it  to 
be  said  truthfully,  that  the  falling  away  of  its  majorities 
is  due  to  infidelity  to  pledges,  or  to  putting  unworthy 
men  into  office,  or  to  surrendering  to  partisan  dictation ; 
and  that  we  feel  certain  that  we  have  lost  nothing  by 
fidelity  to  the  higher  standards  of  public  duty,  and  thct 
we  have  still  unshaken  faith  in  the  essential  principles 
and  character  of  the  Republican  party. 

(4.)  That  its  strength  and  stability  can  be  secured, 
not  by  adroit  management,  nor  by  a  selfish  and  secret 
policy,  but  by  boldly  and  openly  maintaining  sound  prin- 
ciples, and  the  rights,  the  interests,  and  honor  of  the 
whole  people,  ngainst  every  scheme  of  partisanship,  and 
every  attempt  to  secure  office,  profit,  or  power  at  the 
expense  of  truth,  common  justice,  or  common  right. 

(5.)    We  further  declared  that  such  a  policy,  and  the 


144  THE  UNION  LEAGUE  CLUB. 

great  principles  by  which  the  Republican  party  is  now 
bound  to  stand,  were  set  forth  in  President  Hayes's  letter 
of  acceptance  and  inaugural  address;  and  that  in  those 
utterances  we  recognized  a  statesmanlike  comprehension 
of  the  conditions  upon  which  the  pacification  of  States, 
the  prosperity  of  business,  reform  in  the  civil  service,  and 
the  honor  of  the  nation  can  be  secured.  And  we  de- 
clared that,  so  long  as  his  administration  should  be  faith- 
ful to  those  principles,  it  would  receive  the  support  of 
this  Club.  The  Committee  have  had  less  hesitation  in 
presenting  so  extended  a  paraphrase  of  those  resolutions, 
because  their  language  does  not  seem  to  have  lost  its  sig- 
nificance, nor  does  the  time  appear  to  be  past  for  adher- 
ing to  their  spirit. 

Thus  a  wise  discretion  has  succeeded  in  avoiding  prac- 
tical quarrels  and  political  dissatisfaction  beyond  fhe 
bounds  of  safety,  within  the  membership  of  the  Club, 
while  maintaining  a  decent  fidelity  to  the  original  princi- 
ples for  which  the  Union  League  Club  stood.  But 
whether  the  sacrifices  to  prudence  and  good  fellowship, 
have  not  somewhat  overbalanced  the  devotion  to  loyalty 
and  nationality,  is  a  point  upon  which  there  is  room  (or 
doubt.  Whether  a  club  originally  built  on  an  idea  of 
nationality  and  loyalty,  and  the  defense  and  pushing  of 
whatever  tends  to  their  safety  and  growth,  can  be  exter- 
nally prosperous  at  all  times,  and  can  fitly  measure  its 
inner  health  and  usefulness  by  its  outward  case  and 
•growth,  is  a  matter  of  question  with  many,  and  of  settled 
conviction  that  it  cannot,  with  a  few. 

It  should  arouse  some  self  suspicion,  when  a  club  Is 
more   prosperous    than    its    own    principles,  as    it    it   a 


THE  UNION  LEAGUE  CLUB.  US 

doubtful  success,  when  a  merchant  or  financier  grows  rich 
in  times  of  general  disaster,  and  draws  his  fortune  from 
the  wreck  of  great  corporations  and  great  public  interests. 
To  flourish  by  the  triumph  of  our  principles,  is  a  glory  in- 
deed ;  but  to  flourish  by  any  concealment  or  compromise 
of  them,  is  a  showy  defeat.  It  is  plain  that  the  danger  of 
every  political  club  is  its  success  as  a  social  union  and  a 
financial  corporation,  at  the  expense  of  its  fidelity  to  its 
fundamental  idea,  when  it  proposed  to  stake  fortune  and 
life  upon  the  defense  and  support  of  certain  principles 
and  policies.  There  is  notliing  improper  or  deserving  of 
blame  in  the  club  life  of  gentlemen,  who  distinctly  have 
social  satisfaction,  personal  comfort  and  sumptuary  privi- 
leges not  to  be  had  without  association,  for  their  avowed 
object.  Neither  is  there  anything  meritorious,  lofty  or 
worthy  of  praise  in  such  a  club  life.  But  a  club  that 
boasts  an  heroic,  patriotic  and  self-sacrificing  origin,  and 
maintains  in  its  articles  of  association  such  noble  and  serl< 
ous  objects  as  the  Union  League  Club  continues  to  uvow 
in  every  annual  report,  and  in  its  very  charter  and 
articles,  is  bound  to  be  much  more  than  a  union  for 
innocent  pleasure  or  ordinary  social  intercourse.  Nay,  it 
is  pledged  to  hold  its  principles  above  its  worldly  inter- 
ests, its  annual  dues,  its  financial  ease,  its  elegant  Club 
House,  or  its  extended  membership.  "  Multum  non 
multa."  Quality  nor  quantity,  efficiency  not  popularity, 
fhould  be  its  maxims.  It  might  better  lose  much  popu- 
larity than  sacrifice  one  iota  of  its  original  policy,  or  live 
in  poor  lodgings,  proud  in  its  purity  and  patriotism,  than 
occupy  a  palace  built  out  of  soft  compliances  with  politl- 


146  THE  UNION  LEAGUE  CLUB. 

cnl  frailty  and  partisan  fear*  and  hopes.  It  could  gain 
nothing  by  adding  those  who  brought  no  courage,  no 
aspiration,  no  devotion  to  the  great  American  idea  in 
their  hearts,  but  only  their  entrance  fee  and  their  annual 
dues,  and  the  expectation  of  some  additional  importance 
and  some  fresh  opportunities  for  themselves.  Happily 
we  have  preserved  enough  of  the  old  and  first  spirit  to 
make  a  positive  and  marked  decline  from  our  cardinal 
ideas  difficult,  and  he  would  be  a  harsh  critic  who  denied 
the  persistent  existence  of  a  peculiar  quality  of  native 
patriotic  devotion  in  the  Club ;  but  we  are  perhaps  enter- 
ing upon  new  trials,  for  which  we  may  not  come  out  so 
safely,  if  we  do  not  brace  ourselves  up  by  a  careful  read- 
ing and  comparison  of  our  beginning,  our  middle  and  our 
later  history. 

The  history  of  the  Club,  for  the  last  year  1878-9,  has 
been  marked  by  nothing  specially  worthy  of  notice.  The 
membership  shows  a  decrease  of  forty  in  the  roll  of  resi- 
dents, and  an  increase  of  four  among  non-residents.  The 
numbers  on  the  roll,  stood  at  eight  hundred  and  sixty- 
one  resident,  and  three  hundred  and  seventy-nine  non- 
resident members.  The  surplus  for  the  year  was 
$iOr476.44,  less  by  $3,365  than  that  of  the  previous  year. 
The  building  fund  was  carried  up  to  $244,000  in  a  par 
value  of  the  Club's  U.  S.  securities,  with  a  cash  balance 
of  $81.89. 

During  the  year  the  Club  lost  by  death  the  following 
members:  E.  R.  Pearslee,  John  H.  Harbeck,  Theodore 
Roosevelt,  John  F.  Tracy,  A.  W.  Grcenleaf,  W.  W.  Mali, 
M.  Knoedler,  George  W.  Blunt,  William  Orton,  Theron 


THE  UNION  LEAGUE  CLUB.  147 

Skcel,  Wm.  CuUen  Bryant,  W.  M.  Vermllyr,  Isaac  C. 
Kendall,  resident  n^embers ;  and  Geo.  W.  Swain,  Edward 
A.  King,  James  H.  Sackett,  C.  F.  Davey,  non-resident 
members. 

The  attention  of  the  Club  was  strongly  drawn  by  the 
Executive  Committee  in  its  annual  report  to  the  necessity 
of  deciding  the  question  of  a  site  for  a  permanent  Club 
House,  and  erecting  upon  it  a  suitable  building  to  be 
owned  by  the  Club.  The  financial  prosperity  of  the 
association  seemed  to  warrant  what  the  general  feeling 
of  the  Club  demanded.  In  the  course  of  the  year  a  very 
experienced  committee  consisting  of  Jackson  S.  Schultz, 
Salem  H.  Wales,  John  H.  Hall,  Daniel  F.  Appleton  and 
Richard  Butler,  made  an  exhaustive  search  and  a  careful 
comparison  among  all  the  sites  within  convenient  limits 
that  offered  themselves  to  the  purchase  of  the  Club, 
and  after  several  able  reports  and  some  full  discussions  in 
our  public  meetings,  the  site  at  the  corner  of  Fifth 
Avenue  and  39th  Street  was  adopted  by  general  consent 
as  the  one  that  had  all  the  advantages  demanded — cen- 
trality,  commandingness,  accessibleness,  permanent  val- 
ue, amplitude  of  space,  a  good  neighborhood,  and  mod- 
erateness of  priccr. 

The  lease  of  the  lots  was  accordingly  made,  and  the 
situation  of  the  new  Club  House  fixed.  The  Committee 
on  the  proposed  Club  House,  its  design,  architecture, 
construction,  decoration  and  furnishing,  composed  of 
the  above  committee  in  conjunction  with  the  Execu- 
tive Committee  of  this  year,  (1879)  constituting  a  "  Gen- 
eral   Building   Committee"    of   twenty-three    members 


148  THE  US  ION  LEAGUE  CLUB. 

gave  immediate  and  devoted  attention  to  the  subject. 
A  competition  was  invited  among  nine  of  the  chief 
architectural  firms  of  tnc  country,  mainly  ol  New  York 
City,  but  one  of  Boston,  to  furnish  plans  for  the  proposed 
Club  House.  Besides  the  firms  invited,  two  others  vol- 
unteered. These  designs  were  presented  in  April  and 
were  considered  as  universally  creditable  to  the  architects 
who  offered  them.  Indeed  it  was  well  said,  that  any 
one  of  them  would  have  satisfied  the  views  of  the  Club, 
If  it  had  been  its  only  resort.  But  the  number,  variety, 
and  peculiar  excellence  in  difTcicnt  respects  of  the  num. 
erous  plans,  rendered  the  committee  fastidious  and  ex- 
acting, slow  to  decide,  and  sure  that  patience  would 
enable  them  to  secure  a  better  design  than  they  had 
originally  conceived  of.  It  is  due  to  the  rejected  plans, 
to  say  that  some  of  them  might  have  triumphed  over  the 
one  that  wai  finally  adopted,  if  mere  external  cfTcct  had 
been  allowed  more  Influence.  But  the  committee  were 
wisely  convinced,  that  if  taste,  solidity,  fitness  and  dignity 
were  suitably  expressed  in  the  exterior,  any  sacrifices  of 
interior  comfort  and  utility  beyond  that  to  architectural 
display  would  be  unwise.  They  determined  to  be  first 
fully  satisfied  with  the  convenience  and  comfort  of  the 
plans  of  an  interior,  and  to  adopt  only  a  plan  in  which 
the  varied  and  often  conflicting  wants  of  a  Club  House, 
suited  to  the  use  of  a  thousand  resident  members,  and 
five  hundred  non-resident  members  were  properly  consid- 
ered and  successfully  met,  before  they  allowed  the  ques- 
tion of  the  exterior  to  have  place.  The  firm,  of  Peabody 
&  Steams  of  Boston,  had  anticipated  this  requirement  of 


THE  UNION  LEAGUE  CLUB.  I49 

the  committee,  and  in  their  plans  had  evidently  given  the 
first  and  most  studious  and  skilful  attention  tc  an  in- 
terior plan.  They  had  acquainted  themselves  fully  with 
the  wants  of  so  numerous  and  varied  a  membership,  and 
left  out  little  that  could  possibly  enter  into  the  desires 
of  a  thousand  gentlemen  of  different  ages  and  tastes, 
who  looked  to  a  Club  House,  as  an  attractive  place  of 
rest,  amusement,  reading,  conference,  or  public  debate, 
or  as  a  private  hotel  and  restaurant,  where  lodging  could 
be  had  for  bachelors,  or  meals  for  members  whose  private 
houses  were  distant  or  closed. 

Around  this  interior  they  had  designed  the  elevations 
for  the  exterior,  which,  with  some  changes,  received  the 
unanimous  preference  of  the  Sub-Committee  on  Design  ; 
also  the  approval  of  the  General  Building  Committee, 
and,  finally,  the  general  acceptance  of  the  Club. 

The  structure  is  of  Baltimore  brick,  with  massive 
brown-stone  trimmings  and  appropriate  mouldings. 
Solid  foundations  and  thick,  high  walls,  surmounted  by 
a  lofty,  red-slated  roof,  and  ornamentation  of  elaborate 
carvings,  make  up  the  general  character  of  the  exterior. 
The  style  is,  on  the  whole,  classical.  The  interior  plan  is 
special  and  unique,  admirably  adapted  to  Club  utility. 

A  group  of  four  large  stone  columns,  reaching  through 
the  second  and  third  stories,  marks  the  entrance,  which 
is  placed  on  Thirty-ninth  street. 

On  either  side  of  the  members'  entrance  are  arranged 
the  reception-room  and  the  superintendent's  office,  also 
two  large  passenger  elevators.  There  is  also  a  service 
elevator  placed  within  a  service  stairway  for  the  kitchen 


ISO  THE  UNION  LEAGUE  CLUB. 

and  laundry.  The  rest  of  the  floor  is  taken  up  by  the 
reading-room,  billiard-room,  caf^,  coat-room  and  lavatory. 
Opposite  the  main  entrance  rises  the  grand  stairway,  its 
landing  being  enlarged  by  a  bay-window,  to  be  filled 
with  stained  glass. 

On  the  second  floor  the  large  library  occupies  the 
Fifth  Avenue  front,  the  ceiling  of  which  is  formed  by 
groined  vaults  suited  to  a  rich  decoration.  The  picture- 
gallery,  the  large  audience-hall,  with  several  conversation 
rooms,  are  on  the  same  floor  with  the  library,  and  thus 
grouped  they  form  a  fine  and  lofty  suite  of  rooms.  Ad- 
joining the  large  hall  are  several  dressing-rooms,  served 
by  separate  stairs;  and  a  separate  entrance,  with  staircase 
from  the  street,  is  also  provided  to  allow  the  public  to 
visit  the  picture-gallery  and  hall  without  disturbing  the 
Club.  The  picture-gallery  is  placed  in  the  cross  section 
of  the  building,  and  lighted  from  above.  This  large 
opening  affords  abundant  opportunity  for  light  and  ven- 
tilation to  the  interior  portion  of  the  building. 

The  third  floor  and  the  rear  portions  of  the  fourth  and 
fifth  floori  ire  arranged  in  chambers  for  the  use  of  the 
members.  The  grand  dining-room  occupic*  (he  fourth 
story  on  the  Fifth  Avenue  front,  and  extends  up  with 
open  timber-work  into  the  roof,  the  height  to  the  ceiling 
being  about  thirty  feet,  and  suited  to  rich  decoration. 
Adjoining  the  large  dining  hall,  with  service-rooms  at- 
tached, are  imaller  ones  of  varying  size,  arranged  tn 
tuilt  for  private  dinners.  Above  these  dining-rooma, 
and  of  easy  access,  are  the  kitchen,  itore-roonu,  pantry, 
laundry,  etc 


THE  UNION  LEAGUE  CLUB.  \%\ 

The  boiler-room,  storage  and  coal  vaults  arc  placed 
under  the  sidewalk  on  Thirty-ninth  street. 

The  contract  for  construction  was  given,  upon  compe- 
tition, to  Messrs.  Norcross  Bros.,  of  Worcester,  Mass., 
and  the  stone  comes  from  the  Long  Meadow  quarry  of 
that  State.  Careful  attention  seems  to  have  been  given 
by  the  Committee  to  details,  contributing  to  the  comfort 
of  members  and  economy  in  administration. 

The  estimated  cost  of  the  building  was  about  $250,000 
which,  doubtless,  falls  within  the  means  and  scope  of  the 
Club's  financial  economy. 

In  June  of  this  year  (1879)  a  revision  of  the  By-Laws 
was  made.  The  principle  changes  were — the  increase  of 
the  membership  of  the  Committee  on  Admissions  to 
thirteen;  the  railing  of  the  admission  fee' to  $250.;  and 
the  constituting  of  the  "  General  Building  Committee  " 
a  special  committee. 

The  Committee  on  Art  well  sustained  its  exhibitions 
of  American  paintings  during  the  year. 

The  Library  was  further  improved  by  additions  of 
books,  papers  and  magazines,  and  increased  facilities  for 
using  the m.  A  new  catalogue  was  issued,  fully  present- 
ing all  the  books  and  literature  of  the  Club,  rendering 
them  more  accessible.  The  constant  interest  shown  in 
the  Library  indicates  that  it  has  become  an  established 
feature  of  Club  life.  The  Library  now  contains  over 
three  thousand  volumes  of  books ;  thirty-five  magazines 
and  reviews  (foreign  tnd  domestic);  thirty  daily  newt- 
papers;  over  forty  weekly  and  illustrated  papers  and 
art  journals — (American,  English,  French  and  German), 


IJ2  THE  UNION  LEAGUE  CLUB. 

and  about  eighty  morning  and  evening  city  papers, 
(multiplicate).  Doubtless  there  are  few  special  libraries 
larger  in  any  part  of  the  country,  or  more  valuable  in 
books  of  reference,  civil-war  history,  and  public  docu- 
mcnts  and  reports. 

The  address  of  Mr.  Hamilton  Fish,  on  February  13th, 
(1879),  o"  taking  his  scat  as  President  of  the  Club,  con- 
tains many  suggestions  worthy  of  his  great  experience 
In  public  affairs,  and  of  his  honored  character  and  rcco.d. 
The  Club  has  had  a  long  and  distinguished  list  of 
Presidents;  never  one  that  was  not  highly  capable, 
dignified  and  devoted  to  the  permanent  interests  of 
the  association.  Beginning  with  Robert  Mintum,  a  man 
whether  more  bdovcd  or  more  respected  it  is  impossible 
to  say,  it  elected  Jonathan  Sturgcs,  the  incorruptible 
merchant,  patron  of  art  and  beneficence.  He  was  fol- 
lowed by  Charles  H.  Marshall,  the  vigorous  commercial 
leader,  earnest  patriot  and  free-handed  citiren ;  John 
Jay,  whose  honored  ancestry  is  not  lowered  in  his  per- 
son, and  whose  devotion  the  Club  acknowledged  by 
keeping  him  three  years  at  its  head,  came  next.  After 
him  Jackson  S.  Schultt,  the  representative  of  an  ag- 
gressive public  spirit,  fertile  in  all  the  resources  of  pa- 
triotism, and  flinging  a  great  heart  into  all  the  labors 
of  his  mind  and  hand;  then  William  J.  Hoppin.  one 
of  our  founders,  the  charm  of  whose  genial  and  digni- 
fied manners  and  the  high  tone  of  whose  patriotism  we 
have  all  admired  at  home  and  many  of  us  abroad  ; 
Joseph  H.  Choate  succeeded  him,  the  King  of  Clubs, 
whose  Presidency  confers  success  upon   every  meeting 


THE  UNION  LEAGUE  CLUB^  I  53 

where  eloquence,  wit  and  humor  or  patriotism  and 
charity  are  in  place  or  demand  ;  George  Cabot  Ward  fol- 
lowed next,  whose  long  qnd  successful  labors  as  Treas- 
urer were  enhanced  by  his  profound  patriotism  and  utter 
trustworth""'  sr,  in  all  the  relations  of  life,  and  who  adds 
to  his  claif-  ■.  \%  a  banker,  those  of  a  deep  thinker  and  ac- 
complisheii  student.  The  list  ends  with  Hamilton  Fish, 
who  comes  from  eight  years  of  unsought  service  as 
Secretary  of  State,  and  from  countless  cares  and  tri- 
umphs in  the  great  offices  he  filled  at  such  cost  to  him- 
self and  with  such  honor  and  service  to  the  country,  to 
preside  over  the  Union  League  Club  at  a  turning  point 
in  its  history.  The  whole  of  Mr.  Fish's  inaugural  ad- 
dress, omitting  only  what  concerns  the  finances  of  the 
year,  seems  to  belong  to  this  history,  and  we  therefore 
give  it  place,  as  fitted  to  a  permanent  consideration  in  the 
future  policy  of  the  members  of  the  Union  League  Club. 

The  underlying  principle  of  a  club,  jis  such  associa- 
tions are  generally  accepted,  unquestionably  is  its  social 
character  and  features.  Whatever  tends  to  interrupt 
or  detract  from  the  social  character  and  enjoyments  of 
a  club,  leads  towards  dissolution.  The  social  clement 
should,  therefore,  be  fostered  and  promoted  by  all 
proper  means,  and  to  all  reasonable  ends — your  library, 
reading  room,  and  works  of  art  are  valuable  aesthetic 
agents  in  this  direction. 

But  the  Union  League  Club  has  another  element  in 
its  orginization^ongenital  and  distinctive.  Its  birth 
and  its  history  impose  upon  it  duties  to  the  country 
— it  was  bom  amid  the  throes  of  the  nation  struggling 
to  maintain  its  existence — it  was  conceived  and  begotten 
of  a  spirit  of  loyalty  and  of  patriotism  which  induced 


I $4  .THE  UNION  LEAGUE  CLUB. 

men.  theretofore .  holding  the  most  opposite  opinions 
and  positions  on  the  political  questions  which  had  di- 
vided the  country,  to  lay  aside  all  differences  and  give 
their  united  efforts  to  uphold  a  government,  justly  de- 
scribed by  the  gentleman  who  was  called  to  the  second 
position  under  the  rebellious  organization,  as  coming 
"  nearer  the  objects  of  all  good  government  than  any 
other  on  the  face  of  the  earth."  Faithfully  and  cflFici- 
ently  did  this  Club  sustain  the  government  through 
the  dark  hours  of  its  severe  trial,  in  a  course  of  politi- 
cal action,  profoundly  patriotic  and  eminently  bene- 
ficial. 

The  past  imposes  on  us  a  continued  obligation  ;  but 
the  field  of  action  and  of  patriotic  duty  fortunately  is 
somewhat  different — "the  lines  have  fallen  to  us  in 
(more)  p.easant  places."  The  early  duties  and  action 
of  the  Association  were  in  the  times  of  revolutionary 
efforts  to  overthrow  the  government  and  necessarily 
partake  of  the  excitement,  and  perhaps,  somewhat  of 
the  asperities  of  the  existing  state  of  war.  Later,  the 
Club  gave  to  the  government  support  and  encourage- 
ment in  its  efforts  to  bring  the  country  back  to  a  sound 
condition  of  commercial,  financial,  and  social  relations. 
Our  predecessors  did  not  think  that  their  duty  ended 
with  the  suppression  or  cessation  of  violent  resistance 
to  the  government,  but  appreciated  th-it  the  quieter 
and  perhaps  more  difficult  duty  of  watchful  guardian- 
ship remained. 

In  military  tactics,  when  assault  or  attack  in  force 
has  failed,  resort  is  often  had  to  mines,  strategy,  and 
secret  operations.  Troy  for  years  successfully  resisted 
the  assaults  of  her  enemies,  but  fell  when  she  had  ad- 
mitted within  her  citad:l  the  military  leaders  who  had 
failed  in  their  efforts  of  force  for  her  overthrow.  The 
story  of  ancient  Troy,  whether  It  be  fiction  or  hittory, 


THE  UNION  LEAGUE  CLUB.  155 

suggests  that  the  duty  of  watchfulness  and  of  vigilance 
does  not  end  with  the  cessation  of  open  efforts  of  vio- 
lence. Patriotic  men,  loyally  loving  their  country,  in 
whatever  section  of  the  country  they  may  be  (and  there 
are  loyal  and  patriotic  men  in  every  section"  and  in 
every  corner  of  the  land) — patriotic  and  loyal  men,  I 
say,  still  have  the  duty  to  see  that  the  Constitution  is 
enforced ;  the  laws  observed ;  the  rights  of  the  citizen, 
the  humblest  as  well  as  the  highest,  respected ;  and 
the  equality  before  the  law  of  every  citizen  maintained. 

Asking  for  nothing  that  the  Constitution  and  the  laws 
enacted  in  pursuance  thereof  do  not  sanction,  but  de- 
manding all  that  is  granted  or  guaranteed,  it  is  the  duty 
of  good  citizenship  to  insist  that  the  Constitution,  and 
every  part  and  provision  thereof,  be  unreservedly  recog- 
nized, enforced,  and  obeyed  in  letter  and  in  spirit,  carry- 
ing with  it  in  every  State  and  every  part  of  the  Union, 
to  every  citizen,  native  as  well  as  naturalized,  high  and 
low,  rich  and  poor,  without  regard  to  race,  color,  or  pre- 
vious condition,  full  protection  and  the  free  enjoyment 
of  every  right,  whether  of  person,  of  property,  or  of  suf- 
frage, which  the  Constitution  and  the  laws  may  grant. 

The  Charter  and  Articles  of  Association  of  this  Club 
commit  it  to  certain  high  political  duties,  and  those 
duties  lie  In  the  direction  of  one  of  the  highest  and 
noblest  of  studies.  "Politics"  in  the  comprehension  of 
the  pot-house,  import  strife  for  place,  for  jobs,  for  all  the 
unclean  drippings  of  partisan  patronage;  h\i\  " politics," 
in  the  proper  apprehension  of  an  association  like  this 
Club,  means  the  science  of  government.  Avoiding  local, 
personal,  and  purely  temporary  questions,  it  seeks  the 
regulation  and  government  of  the  State  to  its  best  in- 
terests,  the  development  of  its  means  and  its  resources, 
the  preservation  of  its  peace  and  safety,  the  protection 
of  ita  .citizens  in  their  rights,  and  the  advancement  of 


IS6  THE  UNION  LEAGUE  CLUB. 

their  moral,  and  the  improvement  of  their  physical  con- 
dition. In  this  field  no  strife  for  place  or  for  spoils  is 
known ;  the  contest  is  devoid  of  personal  object  and  is 
for  the  development  of  truth,  as  tending  to  the  best  ' 
Intcresti  of  the  State  and  the  greatest  happiness  of  the 
people. 

In  this  field,  gentlemen  of  the  Union  League  Club, 
you  may  exercise  possibly  even  a  more  widely  extended 
influence  of  good  in  the  future  than  you  have  done  in 
the  past,  without  detracting  in  the  slightest  from  the  so- 
cial qualities  and  attractions  of  your  Club. 

It  falls  to  my  lot,  the  first  in  the  line  of  your  presiding 
officers,  to  be  able  to  congratulate  you,  as  I  do  most  cor- 
dially, that  the  country  is  relieved  of  the  curse  of  the 
fluctuating  and  irredeemable  currency,  which  the  ex- 
igencies of  the  war  brought  upon  us.  The  "promise  to 
pay  "  of  the  government,  which  during  your  existence 
as  a  Club  has  never  until  quite  recently  been  worth  what 
it  professed,  and  which  at  a  time  was  worth  in  Itoneit 
money — the  money  of  commerce  and  of  the  nations — 
only  about  35  per  cent,  of  its  professed  value,  has, 
thanks  to  the  wise  policy  established  and  persistently 
maintained  by  the  last  administration,  and  thanks,  too, 
to  the  vigorous  enforcement  of  that  policy  by  those  now 
intrusted  with  the  administration  of  government,  is  now 
convertible  at  pleasure  into  the  coin  recognized  by  the 
world  as  money. 

The  long  prostrate  industries  of  the  country  are  re- 
viving— business  promises  again  to  become  remunerative 
— the  field  of  manufacturing  enterprise  assumes  a  more 
hopeful  aspect — commerce  is  more  active  and  the  foreign 
trade  of  the  country  is  rapidly  paying  ofl  the  vast  accu- 
mulation of  debt  in  which  the  flush  times  of  wild  specu- 
lation and  a  currency  of  uncertain  and  fluctuating  value 
had  involved  us. 


THE  UNIOff  LEAGUE  CLUB.  157 

In  view  of  all  this,  I  sincerely  congratulate  you,  as 
your  influence  and  voice  have,  in  the  past,  been  express- 
ed in  aid  of  the  policy  and  of  the  measures  which  have 
conduced  to  this  encouraging  aspect  of,  the  country's 
condition. 

But,  gentlemen,  here  again  your  duties  arc  not  yet  at 
an  end.  A  large  fii.ld  of  usefulness  is  yet  open  and  de- 
mands your  patriotic  efforts.  Our  commerce  is  not 
what  it  should  be — our  manufactures  are  not  as  active 
as  they  might  be — the  agriculture  of  the  country  might 
and  should  be  better  remunerated.  We  do  not  build, 
are  not  allowed  to  purchase  the  ships  we  need.  Our 
taxation  is  burdensome  —  very  unnecessarily  burden- 
some, because  very  unwisely  laid.  Legislation,  both 
State  and  National,  is  directed  too  much  to  partisan  and 
political  objects,  to  the  neglect  of  the  material  interests 
of  the  country.  Our  currency  is  not  beyond  assault, 
while  the  government  exercises  war  powers  of  issuing 
"legal  tenders"  in  time  of  peace,  or  continues  the  exer- 
cise (of  very  questionable  constitutionality)  of  the  func- 
tions of  a  bank  by  issuing  the  promises  to  pay  which  it 
has  once  redeemed. 

I  fear  that  I  am  detaining  you  too  long;  but  bear 
with  me  a  moment  longer. 

I  have  pointed  to  several  directions  in  which  lie  the 
opportunity  and  the  need  of  improvement  ih  the  mate- 
rial interests  of  the  country,  and  wherein,  I  think,  the 
influence  of  this  Club  may  be  wisely  and  usefully  exer- 
cised. Permit  me  to  allude  to  one  other,  essential  to  the 
permanent  enjoyment  of  whatever  success  may  be  at- 
tained in  either  direction.  I  mean  the  lessening  of  par- 
tisan bitterness  and  the  removal  of  all  local  or  sectional 
differences.  Good  men  will  differ  in  their  conclusions 
from  the  same  premises,  and  in  their  views  as  to  the 
best  means  to  attain  the  same  ends.     The  great  bulk, 


158  THB  VtflOff  LEAGUE  CLUB. 

the  mass  of  all  political  parties  and  of  all  sectional  or 
territorial  divisions,  arc  sincere  and  honest;  the  circum- 
stances and  the  things  that  surround  us  bind  and  form 
our  characters,  and  give  direction  to  our  thoughts.  We 
are  all  too  often  temporarily  misled  ;  the  unsuspecting, 
confidinp,  honest  many,  are  often  the  victims  of  the  plot- 
ter and  the  demagogue. 

Animosities  are  thus  kept  alive,  and  estrangement  is 
continued,  while  the  masses,  North,  South,  East,  and 
West,  have  but  one  object,  one  wish,  one  interest. 

Gentlemen  of  the  Union  League  Club,  let  it  then  be 
our  aim  to  do  what  in  us  may  lie  to  aid  in  removing 
■II  animosities,  in  restoring  harmony  among  all  sections 
of  the  country,  in  elevating  the  tone  of  the  political 
strifes  of  the  people,  in  encouraging  reform,  honesty,  and 
economy  in  the  administration  of  public  affairs,  in  bring- 
ing into  discussion  and  under  the  consideration  of  the 
public,  the  higher  questions  of  political  science  which 
look  to  the  regulation  and  best  government  of  the  State, 
the  development  of  its  resources,  the  protection  of  the 
citizen,  and  the  peace,  safety,  and  best  interests  of  the 
Nation. 

Thus  ends  the  past  history  of  this  Club.  It  has  oc- 
cupied more  space,  even  to  give  a  sketch  of  its  career 
than  was  anticipated,  and  has  really  astonished  one  tol- 
erably familiar  with  its  life  from  the  beginning,  to  see 
how  much  it  hat  been,  and  has  done. 

Short  as  the  life  of  the  Union  League  Club  ii,  reck- 
oned only  by  years,  it  is  already  old  in  services,  and  ven- 
erable for  the  traditions  of  its  heroic  origin.  It  had 
■  ^Iden  age  of  ardent  self-sacrificing  patriotism,  when 
it  lived  and  toiled  with  the  nation  and  sufTcrcd  with  the 
national  anguish,  that  threatened  to  end  in  the  death  of 


THE  UNION  LEAGUE  CLUB.  159 

the  Union.  That  period  of  its  birth  and  its  glory  when 
one  heart  and  one  mind  animated  its  members,  with  a 
common  solicitude,  and  a  common  willingness  to  spend 
and  be  spent  in  the  nation's  cause,  ought  not  to  be  for- 
gotten, and  can  never  cease,  without  ruin  to  all  that  has 
been  exceptional  and  characteristic  in  the  Club,  to  be 
the  dominant  thought  in  its  policy.  Patriotism  was  the 
fountain-head  of  our  being;  national  union,  national 
purity,  national  spirit,  made  the  channel  and  filled  the 
stream  in  which  we  moved.  To  presen-e  and  then  to 
purge  and  purify  the  national  life  so  far  as  that  de- 
pended upon  the  spirit  and  temper  of  the  chief  city  of 
the  country — was  our  .mbition  and  ruling  motive. 
Other  clubs  may  have  this  for  an  indirect  end,  we  had 
it  as  our  reason  for  existence.  While  literary,  aesthetic 
and  social,  or  professional  and  commercial  aims,  have 
been  the  blameless  motives  of  the  numerous  and  re- 
spected associations  in  club  life  that  surrounds  us,  we 
are  signalized  and  distinguished  by  an  origin  and  by  a 
history  that  is  serious  and  directly  connected  with 
national  duty  and  usefulness.  Whatever  relaxations, 
pleasures  and  entertainments  grow  out  of,  or  decorate 
and  adorn  our  club  life,  are  incidental  and  not  essential — 
the  soldier's  garlands  thrown  over  his  armor.  Doubtless, 
we  have  and  enjoy  as  many  of  these  privileges  as  those 
who  make  them  their  set  purpose.  But  we  must  not, 
and  cannot  without  making  our  Articles  of  Association 
meaningless,  forget  that  we  exist  to  challenge  the  ene- 
mies of  Union  and  National  honor,  the  foes  of  American 
principles,  of  which,  freedom  with  order,  equality  with- 


l6o  THE  Uff/Oy  LEAGUE  CLUB. 

out  communism,  and  free  suffrage  without  mob  rule,  are 
the  chief;  and  that  our  name,  our  post  and  our  boast, 
would  all  alike  be  foolishness,  if  we  could  allow  ourselves 
to  degenerate  into  a  body  of  self-satisfied,  pleasure -seek- 
ing, powerless  persons,  in  whom  citizenship  had  ceased 
to  be  a  pride  and  responsibility — municipal  government 
becomf)  a  vulgar  machine  to  be  given  over  to  knaves 
ind  managers  of  popular  passions,  and  the  American 
Nation  and  its  government  an  audacious  experiment, 
premature  in  its  birth,  already  rickctty  and  deformed 
in  its  development,  and  predestined  to  failure,  all  the 
more  fatal  for  the  furious  energy  and  inventiveness  of 
its  people,  and  the  growing  wealth  and  luxury  of  its 
children. 

Despite  the  respect  which  our  growing  wealth  and 
power  have  extorted  from  other  nations,  there  can  be 
no  doubt  that  our  comparative  impotency  in  the  pres- 
ence of  our  municipal  evils  has  weakened  our  political 
prestige  abroad;  that  our  rings  and  railroad  corpora- 
tions, our  foreign  voters,  naturalized  at  the  instance  of 
demagogues  before  their  ignorance,  superstition  and 
hatred  of  law  and  order  have  undergone  any  whole- 
some change;  tb's  corruption  in  our  State  Legislatures 
and  the  deterioration  in  our  Congress,  and  our  office- 
holders— not  to  say  the  decay  of  the  old  race  of 
statesmen — and  the  impossibility  of  raising  men  of  the 
highest  class  to  be  presidents,  have  all  combined  to 
make  the  American  example  quite  as  much  a  warning 
as  an  encouragement  to  European  lovers  of  good 
government,  with    liberty  and   equal    rights.     Wor»t  of 


THE  UNION  LRAGUR  CLUB.  l6l 

all,  the  xsthetic  and  cultivated  class  of  Americans  at 
home — the  so-called  gentlemen  and  ladies — have  grown 
aceptical  of  the  national  life  and  prospects.  The  war 
rebuked  this  temper,  and  for  a  time  cast  out  the 
demon  of  a  lukewarm  Americanism,  which  had  en- 
trenched itself  in  the  traveled  and  artistic,  the  busi- 
ness  and  refined  class  of  our  people.  But  the  war 
developed  so  much  coarse  money-making  energy,  and 
left  so  much  wealth  in  vulgar  hands,  that  American 
life  has  been  distinctly  lowered  and  materialized,  while 
political  power  has  passed  or  is  passing  into  the  cus- 
tody of  the  purse  and  the  plotters  who  best  under- 
stand the  conditions  of  partisan  success,  and  nothing 
more.  Has  the  Union  League  Club  nothing  but  social 
amusement  or  pleasant  intercourse  among  its  members 
left  to  occupy  it,  with  such  a  state  of  things  working 
its  mischiefs  all  around  us  ?  The  more  real  the  evils 
which  discourage  and  stifle  the  patriotism  of  the  fas- 
tidious and  the  foreboding,  the  more  necessary  the 
zeal  and  activity,  union  and  cc6peration  in  a  Club 
like  this,  of  those  who  know  the  temporary  and  pass- 
ing character  of  the  trials  and  discouragements  of 
Liberty  in  a  country  where  to  free  suffrage  is  added 
religious  equality,  a  free  press  and  the  common 
schools,  and  where  governmental  and  municipal  evils 
are  always  controllable  when  the  best  portion  of  the 
community  choose  to  attend  to  their  duty  as  voters, 
as  citizens,  as  natural  leaders  of  public  opinion.  The 
ignorant  and  vulgar,  the  lawless  and  violent  classes  in 
America,  are  not  so  much  to  blame  for  their  injuries 


1 6a  THE  UNION  LEAGUE  CLUB. 

to  the  American  character  and  the  hopes  of  free  in- 
stitutions, as  the  educated,  respectable  and  moral  class, 
who  are  not  willing  to  pay  the  price  of  liberty  by 
giving  it  the  eternal  vigilance  it  requires.  They  ex- 
pect the  blessing  of  good  government  without  being 
willing  to  expend  the  care  il  demands.  Self-govern- 
ment, with  the  self  asleep  and  inactive,  is  a  dream. 
When  the  American  people  really  begins  to  govern 
Itself,  it  will  be  well  governed.  At  present,  it  too 
often  leaves  those  who  choose  to  govern,  to  have  their 
own  reckless  way,  and  wonders  why  our  free  institu- 
tions do  not  better  run  themselves. 

If  the  Union  League  Club  has  any  high  function, 
it  is  certainly  to  battle  with  the  faithlessness  in  Amer- 
ican principles,  which  so  easily  affects  our  cultivated  or 
easy  class.  And  to  that  end  it  must  grapple  with  the 
indolence  and  fastidiousness  which  withdraws  our  better 
men  and  women  from  interest  in  politics  and  from  co- 
operation with  governmental  affairs.  If  none  but  self- 
•eckers  or  aspirants  to  office  are  to  be  interested  in 
elections,  what  can  keep  us  from  falling  into  the  hands 
of  a  race  not  our  own,  seeing  that  those  who  care  little 
or  nothing  for  American  principles  are  now,  and  have 
long  been,  most  intensely  interested  in  the  political 
machine,  and  are  in  possession  of  most  of  the  muni- 
cipal offices.  It  is  not  their  activity  but  our  sloth  that 
causes  most  of  the  evils  of  American  politics;  and  the 
Union  League  Club  should  be  an  animated  protest 
against  this  anti-national,  anti-American,  listlestneu,  and 
waste  of  political  power,  and  failure  in  duty. 


APPENDIX 


r 


ORGANIZATION 

OF  THB 

UNION   LEAGUE  CLUB. 

OF  NEW  YORK, 
FEBRUARY    i6th,    1863. 


ARTICLES     OF     ASSOCIATION. 

I.  The  condition  of  membership  shall  be  absolute  and 
unqualified  loyality  to  the  Government  of  the  United  States, 
unwavering  support  of  its  efforts  for  the  suppression  of  Re- 
bellion. 

3.  The  primary  object  of  the  Association  shall  be  to  dis- 
countenance and  rebuke,  by  moral  and  social  influences,  all 
disloyalty  to  the  Federal  Government,  and  to  that  end  the 
members  will  use  every  proper  means  in  public  and  private. 

3.  We  pledge  ourselves,  by  every  means  in  our  power,  col- 
lectively and  individually  to  resist  to  the  utmost  every  attempt 
against  the  territorial  integrity  of  the  nation. 

ADDITIONAL   ARTICLK  OF   ASSOCIATION,   ADOPTED 
JANUARY    IITH,    1866. 

4.  It  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  Club  to  resist  and  expose 
corruption,  and  promote  reform  in  our  National,  State,  and 
Municipal  affairs ;  and  to  elevate  the  idea  of  American 
citizenship. 


CHARTER. 

AN    ACT   TO   INCORPORATE    "  THE    UNION   LEAOUE   CLUH." 
or    THE    CITY    or    NEW    YORK. 

rAssco  rciiUAiY  i6th,  1865. 

AS  AMIJ4DED  BY  CHAP.    l6o,    I^WS  OP    1867,    PASSKO    MAKCH   16,    I867. 
Al   AMCNDKD   lY   CHAP.    42],    LAWS  OP    1874,   PASSID   MAY    II,  I874. 

Tht  Profit  of  the  Slate  of  Nav  York,  rtpreunted  in  Senate 
and  Assembly,  do  enact  as  folloirs: 

Section  i.  Cornelius  R.  Agnew,  Horatio  Allen,  James 
W.  Bcekman,  Henry  W.  Bellows,  Francis  B.  Cutting,  John 
A  .  Dix,  Wolcott  Gibbs,  John  C.  Green,  George  Griswold, 
David  Hoadley,  Murray  Hoffman,  Willijm  J.  Hoppin, 
(Charles  King,  Charles  M.  Marshall,  Williard  Tarker,  George 
T.  Strong,  Jonathan  Sturges,  Otis  D.  Swan,  Moses  Taylor, 
«nd  such  other  persons  as  now  are  members  of  an  associ- 
ation in  the  city  of  New  York  called  the  "  Union  League 
Club,"  and  such  persons  as  hereafter  shall  become  members 
of  the  corporation  hereby  created,  are  constituted  a  body 
corporate  by  the  name  of  "The  Union  League  Club,"  to 
be  located  in  the  city  of  New  York,  to  promote,  encourage 
and  sustain,  by  all  proper  means,  absolute  and  unqualified 
loyalty  to  the  government  of  the  United  States ;  to  dis- 
countenance and  rebuke,  by  moral  and  social  influences,  all 
disloyalty  to  said  Government,  and  every  attempt  against 
the  integrity  of  the  nation ;  and  in  furtherance  of  these 
objects,  to  establish  and  maintain  a  Library  and  a  Gallery 
of  Art  and  Military  Trophies,  especially  devoted  to  the 
perpetuation  and  illustration  of  the  patriotic  services  and 
Mcrifices  by  which  the  existing  struggle  against  rebellion 
hat   been  characterised. 


APPENDIX.  167 

Sec.  2.  Said  corporation  shall  have  power  to  make  and 
adopt  a  constitution,  by-laws,  rules  and  regulations,  for 
the  admission,  suspension  and  expulsion  of  its  members, 
and  their  government,  the  collection  of  fees  and  dues,  the 
number  and  election  of  its  officers  and  to  define  their 
duties,  and  for  the  safe  keeping  of  its  property,  and,  from 
time  to  time,  to  alter,  modify  or  change  such  constitution, 
by-laws,  rules  and  regulations.  Until  an  election  shall  be 
held  pursuant  to  such  constitution,  by-laws,  rules  and  regu- 
lations, the  officers,  for  the  time  being,  of  the  association 
mentioned  in  the  first  section  of  this  act,  shall  be  the 
•officers  of  the  corporation  hereby  created. 

Sec.  3.  Said  corporation  may  purchase  and  hold,  or  lease 
*ny  real  or  personal  estate  necessary  and  proper  for  the 
purpose  of  its  incorporation,  provided  they  shall  not  hold 
any  real  estate  the  value  of  which  shall  exceed  fifteen 
hundred  thousand  dollars ;  and'  the  said  corporation  may 
issue  bonds,  and  may  execute  mortgages  upon  their  real 
«state  to  an  amount  not  exceeding  the  value  of  «uch  real 
estate,   and   the  improvements  thereon. 

Sec.  4.  Said  corporation  shall  possess  the  general  powers 
and  be  subject  to  the  restrictions  and  liabilites  prescribed 
in  the  third  title  of  the  eighteenth  chapter  of  the  first  part 
of  the   Revised  Statutes. 

Sec.  5.    This  act  sinti  tdke  effect  immediately. 


ORIGINAL   BY-LAWS  OF  THE   CLUB. 


(ADOrrED  MAICH   I3TH,    I863.) 


or  orricERS  and  their  duties. 

I.  The  Officers  of  the  Union  League  Club  shall  be  a 
President,  twelve  Vice-Presidents,  a  Secretary,  a  Treasurer, 
•n  Executive  Committee,  a  Committee  on  Admissions,  and  a 
Committee  on  Publications,  each  of  whom  shall  be  elected 
(except  for  the  year  1863),  at  the  annual  meetings  of  the  Club, 
by  the  members  thereof,  and  sliall  serve  untif  their  successors 
shall  have  been  elected  respectively. 

7.  The  President,  or  in  his  absence,  the  Vice-President 
senior  in  order  of  Election,  shall  pre.'^ide  at  all  meetings  of 
the  Club. 

3.  The  Secretary  shall  keep  a  record  of  the  proceedings  of 
the  standing  Committee,  and  Committee  on  Admissions,  of 
which  Committers  he  shall  be  txofficio  a  member,  and  of  all 
meetings  of  the  Club,  and  of  all  matters  concerning  it  of  which 
a  record  shall  be  deemed  advisable  by  him  or  by  said  Com- 
mittees. The  records  of  the  Secretary  shall  at  all  reasonable 
times  be  opened  to  the  inspection  of  any  member  of  the  Club. 
It  shall  be  his  duty  to  notify  members  of  their  election,  to  keep 
•  roll  of  the  members  of  the  Club  (which  shall  be  signed  by 
each  member  as  soon  ai  elected),  to  issue  notices  for  all 
meetings  of  the  Club  and  to  conduct  the  correspondence. 

4.  The  Treasurer  shall  collect  and,  under  the  direction  of 
the  Executive  Coromiilee,  disburse  the  funds  ;  he  shall  keep 
the  accounts  of  the  Club  in  books  belonging  to  it ;  he  shall  re- 
port at  every  annual  meeting,  and  oftener  if  required,  on  the 
state  of  the  funds.  The  Treasurer  shall  be  tx-effitic  a  member 
of  the  Executive  Committee  and  Committee  on  Adroissiona 


APPENDIX.  169 

5.  The  Secretary  and  Treasurer  shall  have  power  respec- 
tively, with  the  approval  of  the  Executive  Committee,  to  employ 
at  the  expense  of  the  Club,  such  clerical  aid  as  may  be  neces- 
sary in  the  discharge  of  their  duties. 

6.  The  general  affairs  of  the  Club  shall  be  managed  by  an 
Executive  Committee  consisting  of  nine  members.  The  Ex- 
ecutive Committee  shall  exercise  a  general  superintendence 
over  the  internal  affairs  of  the  Club  ;  shall  control  and  manage 
its  property  and  enforce  the  preservation  of  order  in  obedience 
to  its  rules.  It  shall  make  all  necessary  purchases  and  con- 
tracts, but  shall  have  no  power  to  make  the  Club,  or  the  mem- 
bers thereof,  liable  for  any  debt  or  debts  to  an  amount  beyond 
one-half  that  which,  at  the  time  of  contracting  the  same,  shall 
be  in  the  Treasurer's  hands  in  cash,  and  not  subject  to  prior 
liabilities.  It  shall  also  have  power  to  solicit  subscriptions  of 
money  from  loyal  persons  for  the  purpose  of  carrying  into 
eh'eci  the  objects  of  the  Club.  It  may  also  call  special  meet- 
ings of  the  Club  whenever  it  may  deem  necessary.  At  every 
annual  meeting  it  shall  report  its  proceedings,  and  may  at  any 
time  recommend  such  measures  as  it  may  deem  advisable. 

7.  The  Executive  Committee,  of  which  five  shall  be  a 
quorum,  shall  meet  at  least  once  in  every  month  fir  the  tran- 
saction of  business,  and  vacancies  by  death,  or  otherwise,  may 
be  filled  by  the  Committee  for  the  residue  of  the  term. 

8.  There  shall  be  a  Committee  on  Admissions  to  consist  of 
seven  members.  Vacancies  by  death,  or  otherwise,  may  be  fill- 
ed by  the  Committee  for  the  residue  of  the  term.  The  names 
and  residence  of  all  persons  proposed  for  admission,  with  the 
name  of  the  member  proposing  them,  shall  be  first  posted  in  a 
conspicuous  place  in  the  rooms  of  the  Club  at  least  fifteen 
days.  They  thall  then  be  referred  to  the  Committee  on  Ad- 
missions, the  proceeding  of  which  Committee  thereon  shall  be 
secret  and  confidential.  It  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  Committee 
to  make  careful  examination,  and  to  receive  and  consider  all 
communications  in  reference  to  each  individual  proposed  ;  and 
they  shall  pass  upon  each  name  separately.  The  Committee 
shall   fix  their  own   time  and  place  of  meeting.    At  erery 


170  APPENDIX. 

monthly  meeting  the  Committee  shall  report  the  names  of  such 
persons  proposed  as  they  recommend  for  admission,  and  the 
Club  shall  thereupon  proceed  to  vote  upon  the  names  so  rec- 
ommended. Negative  votes  to  the  number  of  one-third  of 
those  cast  shall  exclude  the  person,  or  persons  voted  for. 

9.  There  shall  be  a  Committee  on  Publications,  the  duty  of 
which  shall  be  to  circulate  through  the  public  press  and  other- 
wise such  documents  as  shall  tend  to  awaken,  extend  and  j>er- 
petuale  the  vital  faith  of  the  fathers  of  the  Republic  ;  namely, 
that  National  Union  is  necessary  to  the  American  people  for  the 
preservation  of  liberty,  maintenance  of  law,  security  against 
civil  discord,  protection  from  foreign  aggression,  continuance  of 
social  and  commercial  prosperity,  and  transmission  of  national 
glory  ;  and  to  impress  on  the  intelligent  and  educated  clasies 
the  duty  of  taking  an  active  part  in  the  conduct  bf  public 
afTairs.  Such  Committee  shall  consist  of  seven  members,  and 
have  power  to  fill  its  own  vacancies,  and  to  add  to  its  members 
during  the  term  for  which  it  is  elected.  There  shall  be  • 
special  publication  fund  distinct  from  the  general  fund,  of  the 
Club,  which  shall  be  disbursed  by  the  Treasurer,  only  n  the 
order  or  certificate  of  the  Chairman  of  the  Commitfe  on 
Publications. 

10.  Any  officer  may  be  removed  for  cause  at  any  meeting 
of  the  Club  upon  due  notice,  and  any  vacancy  in  any  office 
may  be  filled  for  the  residue  of  the  term  by  the  Club,  at  any 
meeting  thereof  except  as  otherwise  provided. 

or    MECTINGS. 

11.  'X\\t  Annual  Meeting  of  the  Club  shall  be  held  on  the 
second  Wednesday  in  Janu.iry  at  8  o'clock,  p.m.  for  the  election 
of  officers,  and  the  transaction  of  such  other  businiss  as  may 
come  before  it.  Thirty  members  and  a  majority  of  the  Ex- 
ecutive Committee  shall  b«  a  quorum  at  all  meetings  of  the 
Club. 

IS.  At  every  Annual  Meeting  three  auditors  shall  be  ap- 
fwinted  to  Mnre  for   twelve   months,    or   until    new    auditor* 


APPENDIX.  \^\ 

be  regularly  chosen.  The  duty  of  said  auditors  shall  be  to 
audit  and  settle  the  accounts  of  the  Treasurer,  and  to  present 
their  report  thereof  to  the  next  annual  meeting.  The  Commit- 
tee shall  have  power  to  fill  vacancies  in  their  number,  and  two 
of  them  shall  be  a  quorum. 

13.  There  shall  be  a  monthly  meeting  for  the  election 
of  members,  and  the  transaction  of  business,  on  the  second 
Wednesday  of  every  month,  at  8  o'clock,  p.m. 

14.  At  the  meetings  of  the  Club  the  order  of  business  so 
far  as  the  character,  and  nature  of  the  meeting  may  admit 
shall  be  as  follows  : 

I.  Reading  the  minutes  of  the  last  meeting, 
a.  Reports. 

3.  Election  of  new  members. 

4.  New  business. 

But  this  order  of  business  may  be  on  motion  changed  by  a 
majority  of  the  meeting. 

15.  No  stranger  shall  be  present  at  any  meeting  of  the 
Club. 

16.  All  elections  shall  be  by  ballot,  unless  otherwise  or- 
dered by  two-thirds  of  the  number  present,  and  a  plurality  of 
votes,  except  in  the  cases  provided  for  by  the  eighth  By-Law, 
shall  be  sufficient  to  elect. 

17.  Proxies  shall  not  be  permitted. 

or    MEMBERS. 

18.  No  member  shall  receive  any -salary,  emolument,  or 
profit  from  the  funds  of  the  Club. 

19.  No  member  shall  give  any  money  or  gratuity  to  a  ser- 
vant of  the  Club. 

JO.  All  resignations  shall  be  made  in  writing  to  the  Execu- 
tive Committee ;  but  if  made  after  the  second  Wednesday  of 
January,  such  resignation  shall  not  discharge  the  member  pre- 
senting it  from  his  dues  for  the  current  year ;  and  all  interest  in 
the  property  of  the  Club  of  members  resigning,  or  otherwise 
ceasing  to  be  members,  shall  be  vested  in  the  Club. 


17*  APPENDIX. 

a  I.  A  candidate  fo.  tnetnbership  shall  be  proposed  by  a 
member,  who  shall  register  in  a  book  set  apart  for  the  purpose 
the  candidate's  name,  and  residence,  and  add  the  date  of  such 
registry  and  his  own  signature. 

aa.  If  the  conduct  of  a  member  be  disorderly,  or  injurious 
to  the  interest  of  the  Club,  or  contrary  to  its  By-Laws  ;  or  if 
by  his  arts  or  conversation  he  shall  manifest  a  spirit  of  dis- 
loyalty to  the  Government  of  the  United  States,  the  Executive 
Committee  shall  inform  him  thereof  in  writing,  and  if  the  nature 
of  the  offence  require  it,  request  him  to  resign. 

aj.  Should  such  information  or  request  be  disregarded,  the 
Executive  Committee  shall  refer  the  matter  to  the  next  stated 
meeting  of  the  Club,  or  to  a  special  meeting  there  if  ;  of  which 
reference  due  notice  shall  be  given  to  the  offending  member. 

a4.  At  such  meeting,  the  nature  of  the  offence  shall  be  con- 
sidered, and  the  member  complained  of  may  be  censured,  or 
expelled  by  a  vote  of  a  majority  of  the  members  present.  A 
motion  involving  censure  or  expulsion  shall  be  decided  by 
ballot. 

as.  The  admission  fee  of  a  member  shall  be  Twenty-five  dol- 
lars. The  annual  dues  of  members  shall  be  Twenty-five  dollars, 
payable  in  advance,  on  or  before  the  first  Monday  in  March  in 
every  year,  except  by  members  elected  prior  to  the  first  day  of 
January,  1864,  who  shall  pay  upon  admission.  If  not  then 
paid,  the  defaulter  shall  cease  to  be  a  member,  ipso  facto :  pro- 
vided, that  upon  his  written  application,  and  the  payment  of  all 
dues  to  the  date  thereof,  the  Executive  Committee,  in  its  dis- 
cretion and  upon  such  terms  as  it  may  deem  proper,  may  re- 
mit the  penalty  of  this  By-Law  ;  of  all  which  the  Secretary 
shall  make  a  minute.  And  provided  further  that  the  penalty  of 
this  By-Law  shall  not  apply  to  the  case  of  a  resident  member, 
who  may  be  ill,  or  absent  fiom  the  City  of  New  York. 

or    STRANGERS. 

a6.  A  member  may  personally  introduce  non-residents  to 
the  rooms  of  the  Club  for  a  fortnight,  their  names,  and  those  of 


APPENDIX.  173 

the  parties  introducing  them,  and  the  date  of  such  introduc- 
tion, to  be  first  entered  in  a  book  to  be  kept  for  the  purpose. 

a?.  The  Executive  Committee  may  give  a  written  invitation 
to  any  stranger,  which  shall  entitle  him  to  visit  the  Club  House 
for  one  month,  or  such  longer  period,  as  the  Committee  may 
deem  proper. 

28.  Residents  of  the  City  of  New  York,  not  being  members, 
shall  not  be  admitted  to  the  rooms  of  the  Club  more  than  once. 

29.  No  person,  except  a  non-resident  foreigner,  shall  be  ad- 
milted  into  the  Club  House,  who  does  not  give  his  unwavering 
support  to  the  Government ;  and  if  any  person  disloyal  to  the 
Government  of  the  United  States,  be  knowingly  introduced  to 
the  rooms  of  the  Club  by  any  member  of  the  Club,  such  mem- 
ber  may  be  expelled  for  the  offence. 

MISCELLANEOUS. 

30.  No  person  shall  take  from  the  Club  House  a  newspaper, 
pamphlet,  book,  or  other  article,  the  property  of  the  Club,  nor 
mutilate,  deface,  nor  destroy  the  same. 

31.  Books,  pamphlets  or  newspapers,  shall  not  be  removed 
from  the  reading  and  drawing-rooms. 

3».  A  By-Law  of  the  Club  may  be  amended  or  a  new  By- 
Law  made,  at  any  regular  meeting  of  the  Club,  the  proposer 
having  posted  upon  the  notice-board  the  words  of  the  proposed 
alteration,  or  addition,  for  at  least  thirty  days,  immediately  pre- 
ceding the  said  meeting,  when,  if  two-thirds  of  those  present 
shall  vote  in  favor  of  the  proposed  alteration  or  amendment, 
the  same  shall  be  adopted. 

33.  The  Executive  Committee  shall  have  power  to  make 
anch  other  regulations  as  may  be  necessary  for  the  protection 
of  the  property  of  the  Club,  and  the  preservation  of  good 
order. 


PRESIDENTS. 


ROBERT  B.  MINTURN,         ....     '863 

JONATHAN  STURGES "864 

CHARLES  H.  MARSHALL,  .  .  •  ■     1865 

JOHN  JAY,    .  .  .  .  •  1866— 1869 

JACKSON  S.  SCHULTZ '870 

WILLIAM  J.  HOPPIN,  .  1871— 1871 

JOSEPH  H.  CHOATE,  .  •      1873—1876 

JOHN  JAY ««77 

GEORGE  CABOT  WARD '878 

HAMILTON  FISH '879 


HONORARY  MEMBERS. 


ABRAHAM  LINCOLN,^ 

Lalt  President  ef  the   United  States. 

ULYSSES  S.  GRANT, 

Ex-President  of  the   United  States. 

General  W.  T.  SHERMAN,  U.  S.  Army. 
Lieutenant-General  p.  H.  SHERIDAN,  U.  S.  Army. 
Major-General  ROBERT  ANDERSON.* 
"  GEORGE  G.  MEADE.* 

"  "  A.  E.  BURNSIDE. 

WINFIELD  S.  HANCOCK,  U.  S.  Army. 
"  "  O.  O.  HOWARD,  " 

HORATIO  E.  WRIGHT. 
"  '•  GOUVERNEUR  K.  WARREN,  U.  S.  A. 

;•  "  WILLIAM  T.  SMITH. 

"  "  GEORGE  H.  THOMAS,*  U.  S.  Army. 

Admiral  DAVID  G.  FARRAGUT,*  U.  S.  Navy. 
Vice-Admiral  DAVID  D.  PORTER, 
Rear-Admiral  THEODCRUS  BAILEY,*  U.  8.  Nury. 

MELANCTHON  SMITH,*        " 
Commodore  JOHN  RODGERS. 
GEORGE  T.  STRONG,*  Esq.,  New  York. 

'Dtceutd. 


EXTRACTS 

rmOM    THE  ADDRESS   OF    HON.  JOHN    JAY,  PRESIDENT    Of    THt 
CLOB,    AT     THE     OLD     CLUB    HOUSE,    ON    THE    OCCA- 
SION   or    THE    LAST    MEETING    BEFORE    RE- 
MOVAL— MARCH    26th,    1868. 


NEW    YORK    AT    THE   BECINNINO    OF   THE    WAR. 

The  position  of  New  York,  during  the  contest  (Rebellion), 
was  materially  influenced  by  the  members  of  this  Club.  When 
Mr.  Jefferson  Davis  and  his  co-conspirators  commenced  the 
war,  it  was  not  simply  with  the  assurance  of  Mr.  Ex- President 
Pierce,  that  the  lighting  should  be  "  within  our  own  borders, 
and  in  our  own  streets,"  but  with  the  assurance,  also,  that  New 
York,  so  intimately  connected  with  the  South,  would  side  with 
the  Rebellion,  and  stand  as  a  breakwater  between  the  rebels 
and  the  indignant  patriotism  of  the  North.  In  January,  1861, 
soon  after  the  secession  of  South  Carolina,  Mr.  Fernando  Wood, 
then  Mayor  of  our  city,  suggested  to  the  Common  Council  that 
a  dissolution  of  the  Union  seemed  inevitable,  and  it  wa.s  proper 
that  New  York  should  be  prepared  to  declare  herself  a  free 
city,  independent  alike  of  the  National  and  State  Govern- 
ments ;  and  an  association  was  secretly  organized  with  a  view 
to  carry  out  the  project  at  a  convenient  season. 

The  sitting  of  the  Peace  Congress  delayed  the  outbreak  of 
the  Rebellion  ;  and  when  Sumter  was  attacked  and  the  old  flag 
humbled,  we  answered  the  rebel  g\ins  of  Moultrie  by  the  mem- 
orable gathering  of  hundreds  of  thousands  in  this  square, 
whose  voices,  clear,  ringing,  and  defiant,  sounded  the  key-note 
of  the  patriotism  of  the  country.  It  announced  to  the  world 
the  resolution  of  the   North,  that  the  Republic,  at  whatever 


APPENDIX.  177 

cost,  should  continue  one  and  indivisible.  It  exploded  the 
schemes  of  the  Northern  sympathizers  with  secession.  Even 
Mr.  Wood,  forgetful  of  his  first  suggestion,  hastened  to  defend 
the  policy  of  President  Lincoln.  During  the  year  1861,  our 
city  put  into  the  field  60,000  volunteers,  and  loaned  to  the 
Government  over  a  hundred  millions  of  money. 

The  Sumter  meeting  in  this  Square  (Union)  was  suggested 
by  Colonel  Cannon  to  a  few  gentlemen  hastily  assembled  at 
the  office  of  the  late  Simeon  Draper,  and  the  arrangements 
were  completed  at  the  house  of  our  associate,  Mr.  McCurdy ; 
and  the  arrival  of  Major  Anderson  and  his  little  force,  with  the 
tattered  flag  of  Sumter,  added  to  the  solemnity  and  intensity  of 
the  scene.  Those  were  stirring  times,  and  events  followed  in 
quick  succession  which  soon  converted  our  city  into  a  camp, 
a.id  filled  our  parks  with  barracks.  Sumter  surrendered  on  the 
14th  of  April ;  on  the  i8th  we  greeted  the  Massachusetts  Sixth 
as  it  passed  through  New  York  ;  on  the  morning  of  the  19th, 
our  own  Seventh  followed,  representing  the  bravest  and  best 
blood  of  the  metropolis  ;  and  on  the  20th  was  the  grand  meet- 
ing. Among  the  speakers  were  two  who  were  soon  to  fall  in 
the  great  cause  they  so  eloquently  advocated — Colonel  Baker 
and  Professor  Mitchell ;  and  presently  the  country  was  again 
startled  at  learning  of  the  massacre  at  Baltimore,  and  that  com- 
munication with  Washington  was  cut  off. 

CAUSES  THAT   LED   TO   THF    FORMATION   OF   THE  CLtJB. 

In  the  next  year  the  dilatory,  pro- slavery  policy  of  the  govern- 
ment, and  the  extreme  caution  that  ruled  the  Army  of  the  Poto- 
mac, created  profound  dissatisfaction  ;  and  with  the  cry  of  "  a 
more  vigorous  prosecution  of  the  war,"  aided  by  the  perfidy  of 
professed  Republicans,  Mr.  Horatio  Seymour,  who  had  de- 
nounced the  war  as  unconstitutional,  was  elected  governor,  and 
our  brave  Wadsworth  returned  to  the  front,  and  fell  in  the 
Wilderness.  The  policy  now  developed  of  encouraging  the 
Rebellion,  and  thwarting  the  Government,  emboldened  by  the 
Papal  recognition  of  the  Southern  Confederacy,  showed  that 


178  APPENDIX. 

we  had  as  dangerous  an  enemy  to  contend  with  at  home,  ai 
that  which  our  armies  were  confronting  in  the  field.  In  the 
West  there  was  the  formidable  conspiracy  of  the  Knights  of 
the  Golden  Circle  ;  in  New  York,  a  society,  professedly  "  for 
the  diffusion  of  political  knowledge,"  issued  tracts  defending 
slavery,  assailing  the  Government,  apologizing  for  the  rebels, 
and  demanding  peace.  There  were  alien  writers  and  a  factious 
press,  denying  our  nationality,  and  repeating  the  fallacies  of 
the  Lotuion  Timet ;  and  all  these  anti-national  movements  were 
encouraging  not  only  the  rebels,  but  our  European  foes,  who 
were  bent  on  intervention  ;  while  Lord  Lyons  reported  to  his 
government  the  views  of  Democratic  leaders  in  New  York, 
and  Mr.  Drouyn  de  Lhuys  referred,  in  his  circular  inviting 
European  mediation  and  intervention,  to  the  encouragement 
afforded  for  the  scheme  by  the  progress  of  the  peace  party  in 
the  Northern  States.  So  confident  of  success  was  this  seces- 
sion party  in  New  York,  backed  as  they  were  by  the  Pope,  Louis 
Napoleon,  and  the  English  Tories,  and  by  a  constituency  of 
naturalized  citizens,  stronger  in  number  than  in  intelligence, 
with  but  small  appreciation  of  American  principles,  and  yet 
less  regard  to  American  honor,  that  its  members  began  to  vaunt 
their  treason  in  our  social  circles  and  business  marts,  with  an 
insolent  boldness  that  it  stirs  the  blood  even  to  remember. 
Apart  from  their  plottings  at  home,  we  found  that  they  were 
assuming  to  represent  the  opinions  of  the  higher  circles  of  New 
York,  and  were  misleading  European  Cabinets  and  the  Euro- 
pean press  into  the  belief  that  the  wealth  and  culture  of  the 
American  metropolis  were  all  arrayed  on  the  side  of  the  Re- 
bellion. 

It  was  to  grapple  with  this  treason,  and  make  it  powerless 
and  contemptible,  that  the  Union  League  Club  was  formed  in 
the  beginning  of  1863,  and  from  the  start,  its  power  was  felt 
more  and  more,  until  New  York  became,  as  at  the  beginning  of 
the  war,  the  national  centre  of  patriotic  sentiment. 

In  April,  1863,  we  organized,  in  this  Square  (Union),  an- 
other grand  meeting,  on  the  second  anniversary  of  the  surrender 
of  Samter,  when  a  hundred  genllemen,  our  welcome  gueata, 


APPENDIX.  179 

represented  on  the  occasion  that  noble  body,  the  Union  League 
of  Philadelphia. 

CLUB  HOUSE  INAUGURATION,  APRIL   i6TH,   I868. 

The  inauguration  of  the  New  Club  House,  on  the  evening 
of  the  1 6th  of  April,  was  attended  by  about  twelve  hundred 
ladies  and  gentlemen,  including  officers  of  the  army  and  navy 
and  distinguished  guests  from  various  parts  of  America  and 
Europe. 

Some  eighty  letters  of  regret  were  received  by  the  Committee 
from  gentlemen  unable  to  attend,  and  the  following  brief  ex- 
tracts, indicating  the  general  character  of  the  tributes  paid  by 
our  most  eminent  statesmen  from  all  quarters  to  the  services  of 
the  Club,  may  perhaps  fitly  find  place  in  this  record  of  its  past 
memories. 

FROM    HON.   SENATOR   EDWIN   D.   MOROAN. 

"  Most  cordially  do  I  applaud  your  movement.  As  a  central 
rally-point  for  men  of  high,  unselfish  aims  and  patriotic  pur- 
poses, the  Union  League  Club  is  destined  hereafter,  as  here- 
tofore, to  be  of  incalculable  service,  especially  in  junctures  like 
the  present,  in  pacifying  the  country,  and  in  reconciling  by  de- 
grees those  differences  which  have  grown  out  of  the  great  C'vil 
war — a  war  which  you,  gentlemen,  have  done  so  much  to  bring 
to  an  auspicious  close.  As  a  resident  of  New  York,  I  feel  a 
natural  pride  in  recalling  the  part  performed  by  the  Club.  Its 
history  I  well  know,  from  its  first  organization,  in  1863,  till 
now  ;  it  has  been  my  privilege  as  a  citizen  not  only,  but  I  may 
also  say  duty,  in  an  official  way,  to  keep  informed  as  to  its 
action  in  raising  troops,  in  aiding  hospitals,  furnishing  camp 
and  other  supplies,  and  in  all  ways,  moral  and  material,  nobly 
sustaining  the  Government  in  its  dire  struggle.  I  cannot  con- 
ceive  how  the  work  which  the  Club  has  done,  and  done  so  well, 
and  which  all  must  see  was  to  a  degree  vital  to  the  success  of 
the  national  arms,  could  have  been  accomplished  otherwise  than 
through  your  organization.    Your  Club  sprang  from  the  necessi- 


l8o  APPENDIX. 

tiei  of  the  period,  anc*.  was  held  together  during  the  war  b/  « 
common  danger,  and  by  common  hopes  and  interests  ;  its  con- 
tinuance is  demanded,  as  I  have  snid,  by  the  relation  that  the 
individual  bears  to  the  commonwealth  \  and  it3  mcnbcrchip  in 
the  future  will  be  even  more  c'o.-cly  connected  than  hitherto  by 
the  recollection  of  common  sacrifices,  by  common  tradition  of 
the  recent  past.  Representatives  of  all  classes  of  business  and 
professional  pursuits,  and  of  the  higher  walks  of  literature  and 
the  arts  in  the  city  of  New  Yorlc,  arc  to  .-.:ui.,Llc  from  day  to 
day  in  your  new  quarters,  not  alone  for  social  intercourse,  but 
at  cititeni  of  the  republic,  for  the  interchanjjc  of  views  and 
opinions  on  matters  of  general  concern,  with  the  common  good 
in  view,  and  that  good  the  best  interests  of  the  who)e  country, 
but  not  at  partisans.  Without  a  centre  like  yours,  to  aid  in 
giving  direction  to  it,  the  scniipicnt  of  the  public  mind,  even  in 
a  period  of  insurrection,  is  slow  ;  oftentimes  too  slow  in  decid- 
ing upon  plans  of  action.  The  attack  upon  Sumter  provoked 
the  loyal  millions  of  the  North,  but  it  was  the  meeting  iii  Union 
Square — that  now  historic  popular  outbarst  (called  together  in 
much  the  same  manner  as  was  your  Club) — which  gave  direc- 
tion, as  I  had  good  reason  at  the  time  to  know,  to  that  current 
of  patriotism  which  continued  to  flow  on  unceasingly  until  the 
rebellion  was  swept  away.  •  *  •  I  welcome  your  proceed- 
ings on  Thursday  evening,  not  only  as  an  index  of  your  pros- 
perity, but  as  an  earnest  that  the  Union  League  Club  is  to  be- 
come one  of  the  permanent  institutions  of  our  city.  •  •  • 
I  need  not  hope  that  under  its  wise  managers,  the  Club  will 
continue  to  hold  its  well-earned  place  in  the  hearta  of  good 
people  everywhere." 

FROM   OCT.    raNTON. 

"I  had  thought  it  possible  to  join  you,  and  my  disappoint- 
ment is  fully  equal  to  the  pleasure  I  had  anticipated  from  an 
occasion  so  expressire  of  the  prosperity,  growth,  and  influence 
of  the  organiiation.  The  history  of  the  League  bears  witness 
to  the  fidelity  and  loyal  spirit  of  the  nation  throughout  our 


APPENDIX.  l8l 

levere  trial  of  war,  and  may  well  inspire  confidence  that  its 
future  career  will  be  no  less  useful  and  honorable,  While  the 
exigency  that  called  it  into  being  no  longer  exists,  still  there 
are  duties  of  another  character,  hardly  less  grave,  that  invite 
its  support,  and  I  can  readily  believe  that  its  noble  purpose,  the 
stirring  events  which  gave  it  renown,  and  the  associations  con- 
netted  with  its  name  and  record,  have  imparted  a  vitality  and 
power  to  be  exhausted  by  no  single  event  or  day,  but  that  are 
for  all  events,  and  for  all  time." 

FROM  MR.    SPEAKER    COLFAX. 

"  I  send  you,  however,  my  hearty  congratulations  on  the 
prosperity  of  your  patriotic  organization,  and  its  illustrious 
record  during  the  years  of  its  existence.  Its  invaluable  aid  in 
sending  soldiers  to  the  field,  and  its  no  less  important  work  in 
concentrating  and  proclaiming  the  public  sentiment  of  the  loyal 
men  of  New  York,  the  material  aid  its  members  freely  proffered 
to  the  treasury  when  the  Government  loans  flagged  so  sadly  in 
the  interior ;  its  prompt  and  cordial  adherence  to  the  policy  of 
our  martyr  President  when  he  broke  every  yoke  and  bade  the 
oppressed  go  free  ;  its  manly  defiance  of  popular  prejudice, 
when  your  Union  League  Club  publicly  gave  its  hearty  God- 
speed to  the  colored  regiment  it  had  raised  ;  and  its  inflexible 
determination  that  loyalty  should  rule  in  all  the  region  that 
loyal  sacrifices  had  saved — are  all  written  down  in  a  history 
which  posterity  shall  read  to  your  honor ;  and  your  children 
shall  remember  with  pride,  that,  in  the  darkest  hours  of  peril 
to  the  country,  not  one  of  all  your  organization  ever  allowed 
himself  to  despair  of  the  Republic  ;  but,  on  the  contrary,  was 
willing  to  throw  his  all  into  the  scale  to  presenre  our  national 
existence." 

FROM   RON.   R.    R.  DANA,    PRKSIDENT    OF   THB   ONION   CLUB 
OF  BOSTON. 

"  I  beg  you  to  aMure  the  Union  League  that  the  Union  Gab 
of  Boston  knows  and  appreciate*  the  great  senrices  (greater 


1 8a  APPENDIX. 

than  perhaps  history  will  ever  record)  which  were  done  for  our 
cause  by  the  Union  Leaguei  of  New  York  and  Philadelphia,  in 
the  three  scenes  of  its  life  and  death  struggle — the  field  of 
battle,  the  press,  and  the  polls." 


FROM    HON.    HORACE   OINNEY,   OF    PHILADELPHIA. 

"I  feel  myself  to  be  infinitely  honored  by  your  invitation  to 
attend  the  inauguration  of  the  Union  League  Club  of  New  York 
on  the  evening  of  the  i6th  instant.  The  established  character 
of  that  Club  for  loyalty  to  the  Union,  and  for  the  steadfast 
defense  of  the  National  authority,  as  well  as  of  the  obligation 
of  the  Constitution,  makes  such  an  invitation  a  compliment  to 
all  who  receive  it,  as  being  thought  to  be  in  sympathy  with 
these  elevated  virtues,  and  1  am,  on  this  ground,  proud  to  re- 
turn my  tharki  for  it,  while  it  is  entirely  beyond  my  power  to 
accept  it  with  personal  attendance." 


PROM   BBNATOR   BHBRMAN. 

"  My  best  wishes  and  cooperation  will  always  be  for  the  con- 
tinued triumph  of  the  national  and  patriotic  principles  that 
have  heretofore  guided  your  League,  and  I  have  been  in  a 
situation  to  know  how  useful  it  has  been  in  its  influence  not 
only  in  New  York  but  throughout  the  country." 

rmoM  otORCE  h.  boker,  <^ecretary  or  the  union  leagite 

Of    PHILADELrHIA. 

"  Permit  me  to  congratulate  you,  in  the  name  of  our  League, 
on  your  occupation  of  the  magnificent  building  which  will 
henceforth  be  identified  by  your  name — a  name  already  made 
illustrious  by  your  many  patriotic  deeds — and  to  hope  that 
your  prosperity  will  incite  you  to  enlarge  your  field  of  useful- 
ness, and  to  extend  the  influence  of  your  noble  principles  over 
the  remotest  limits  of  your  great  State." 


APPEffDIX.  183 


CORRESPONDENCE 

WITH    GOV.     SEYMOUR     COMCERNINO    THE     ORGANIZATION     OP 
COLORED   TROOPS. 


New  York,  Nov.  22. 1863. 
"  His  Excellency  Hon.  Horatio  Seymour,  Governor,  etc. 
"  Dear  Sir  : 

"  At  the  regular  meeting  of  the  Union  League 
Club,  held  at  its  Club  House,  Union  Square,  in  this  city,  on 
November  12th,  1863,  the  following  resolution  was  unanimously 
adopted : 

"  Resolved,  That  a  committee,  consisting  of  seven  members 
be  appointed  by  the  Chair,  with  full  power,  and  on  behalf  of 
the  Union  League  Club,  to  adopt  and  prosecute  such  measures 
as  they  shall  deem  most  effectual  for  aiding  the  Government  in 
raising  and  equipping  the  quota  of  volunteers  to  be  raised  in 
the  State  of  New  York,  pursuant  to  the  proclamation  of  the 
President  of  the  United  States." 

"  The  above  resolution  indicates  the  object  of  this  commu- 
nication. 

"  On  behalf  of  the  Union  League  Club,  we  desire  to  ask 
your  authority  to  raise  a  regiment  or  companies  of  colored  men 
in  this  State.  If  you  shall  be  pleased  to  signify  your  willing- 
ness to  grant  such  authority,  we  will  at  once  seek  the  approval 
of  the  War  Department.  We  may  be  permitted  to  add  that  we 
believe  that  with  the  influence  of  our  Club,  composed  as  it  is 
of  five  hundred  of  the  wealthiest  and  most  influential  gentle- 
men of  the  city,  who  have  no  purpose  to  serve  but  the  support 
of  the  Government,  and  aided  as  we  should  be  by  the  efforts  of 
many  citizens  outside  of  our  organization,  the  raising  of  a  con- 
siderable body  of  colored  troops  in  this  State  will  be  easily  ac- 
complished, and  a  considerable  contribution  thus  made  toward 
filling  our  quota. 


1 84  APPENDIX. 

"  Of  course  we  should,  before  any  actual  movement  towards 
recruiting  was  made,  ask  of  you  authorization  to  the  proper 
officers  in  the  usual  form. 

"  Soliciting  the  favor  of  an  early  reply,  we  are,  very  respect- 
fuUy, 

"  Your  obedient  servants, 

ALEXANDE?.  VAN  RENSSELAER, 

GEORGE  BL1S3.  Ja., 

LE  GRAND  B.  CANNON." 

The  following  reply  was  received  in  a  few  days  : 

"Stat«  or  N«w  YotK,  ExEorrivj  DiPAaTMiNT, ) 
Albany,  Nrvtmitr,  17,  1863,  J 

"  GeiUlemcH  : 

"  I  have  received  your  communication  in  rela- 
tion to  the  organization  of  negro  regiments  into  companies. 
The  matter  rests  entirely  with  the  War  Department  at  Wash- 
ington. I  understand  that  permission  has  been  given  to  per- 
sons in  Brooklyn  to  raise  such  regiments,  and  I  suppose,  there- 
fore, you  can  get  a  like  authorization. 

"  I  send  you  a  copy  of  a  letter  written  by  mc  to  Mr.  Rodgers 
of  New  York,  which  covers  the  whole  ground. 
"  Yours,  etc., 

-HORATIO  SEYMOUR. 
"  To  Mom  Atax.  Van  RiNssxLAia,  L.  C  B.  Cannon,  Gio.  Buti,  Ja." 

The  letter  to  Mr.  Rodgers,  referred  to  by  Got.  Seymour, 
was  as  follows : 

"  Stats  or  Niw  Vo«k.  Exicurivm  DafASTiUMrr,  ) 
Alsant,  NevttKber  14,  1 86 J.  ( 

"To  James  Rodoers,  Esq.,  No.  411  Broadway,  N.  Y. 

"In  answer  to  your  inquiries  about  the  enlistment  of 
blacks  and  the  or^-anization  of  regiments  and  companies,  I  have 
to  say  : 


APPENDIX.  185 

'  "  First. — That  under  the  State  laws  the  bounty  is  paid  to  all, 
without  distinction,  who  are  mustered  into  the  service  of  the 
United  States,  and  for  whom  credits  are  given  to  New  York, 
under  the  President's  call  for  troops. 

"  Second. — As  to  new  organizations,  I  have  no  power  to  au- 
thorize any,  either  for  blacks  or  whites,  which  will  be  entitled  to 
the  benefit  of  the  bounty  given  by  the  General  Government.  The 
object  at  Washington  is  to  fill  up  the  ranks  of  the  regiments  in 
the  field.  If  any  new  organizations,  for  either  white  or  black 
troops,  are  made,  they  must  be  authorized  by  the  War  Depart- 
ment, to  entitle  those  who  join  them  to  the  benefit  of  the  money 
paid  to  volunteers. 

"  Yours,  etc., 

"  HORATIO  SEYMOUR." 

It  will  be  perceived  that  Gov.  Seymour  utterly  misappre- 
hended the  point  of  the  letter  of  your  committee.     •     •     • 

The  Secretary  of  War  was  unwilling  to  authorize  the  raising 
of  a  new  regiment  in  any  State,  unless  the  consent  of  the  Gov- 
ernor of  that  State  was  obtained. 

Application  was  therefore  made  to  the  Secretary  of  War 
through  a  committee  consisting  of  Messrs.  George  Bliss  Jr., 
and  Le  Grand  B.  Cannon. 

Authority  was  received  from  the  War  Department,  dated 
Dec.  5th,  1863.  On  the  following  day  the  Secretary  of  the 
Committee  addressed  Gov.  Seymour  thus  : 

•'  New  Yo»k,  80  Waij.  St.,  Dtt.  4,  1863. 
"  Hon.  Horatio  Seymour,  Governor,  etc. 
"  Dear  sir : 

"On  the  receipt  of  jour  favor  of  the  ayth,  ad- 
dressed to  Mr.  Van  Rensselaer  and  others,  a  Committee  of  the 
Union  League  Club,  that  Committee,  in  accordance  with  yoiir 
suggestion,  made  application  to  the  War  Department  for  au- 
thority to  raise  a  negro  regiment  in  this  State.  They,  yester- 
da/,  received  luch  an  authorizatioa,  and  have  directed  me  to 


1 86  APPEffDJX. 

transmit  to  you  a  copy  of  it,  and  also  of  the  application,  and 
to  express  the  hope  thnt  so  far  as  is  in  your  power,  you  will 
give  the  movement  your  aid  and  countenance. 

"  They  direct  me  also  to  suggest  that  tome  ttepii  should  b« 
taken  to  put  a  stop  to  the  recruiting  in  this  State  of  men  for 
other  States,  and  to  the  inducing  men  to  leave  this  State  and 
enlist  elsewhere.  The  Committee  believe  that  this  has  been 
done  and  is  being  done  to  a  considerable  extent,  and  particu- 
larly with  colored  men. 

"  Your  obedient  irrvant, 

"  GEORGE  BLISS,  J«.. 

"  Snrrtary." 

No  reply  was  received  to  this  letter,  nor  was  any  notice 
taken  of  it 

"As  an  instance  of  the  feeling  against  colored  troops  in  the 
city  at  this  time,  it  was  found  impossible  to  have  a  band  to 
escort  the  regiment  down  Broadway  ;  both  Ciraffiila  and  Dods- 
worth  refused,  and  it  was  only  upon  application  to  the  Secre- 
tary of  War  that  the  Government  band  was  furnished. 

"  Recruits  in  large  numbers  quickly  came.  Squads  of  them 
came  from  distant  parts  of  the  State.  •  •  •  Among  the 
volunteers  enlisting  were  men  from  the  British  West  India 
Islands,  Hayti,  Canada,  Maryland,  Virginia,  Kentucky  and  the 
West  ;  but  the  majority  were  from  the  respectable,  industrious 
and  hard-working  classes  of  otir  own  State  and  city.  One 
pastor  of  a  church,  the  Rev.  Mr.  I^  Vere,  since  appointed 
chaplain  of  the  Twentieth,  came  with  the  greater  part  of  the 
male  members  of  his  congregation.  Some  were  men  who  had 
been  driven  out  of  their  homes  by  the  mob  in  July.  One 
young  man,  WilliaVn  Derickson,  whose  mother  was  murdered 
by  the  mob,  and  who  had  his  clothes  saturated  with  camphene 
and  straw  piled  over  him  in  the  street  in  order  that  he  might 
be  burned  to  death,  but  who  was  in  time  rescued  by  the  police, 
volunteered,  and  is  now  with  the  Twenty-sixth  at  Beaufort." — 
(Extract  fr.>m  report  of  Committee  on  Voluoteering,  presented 
Oct.  13th,  1864.) 


APPENDIX.  187 

ADDRESS  TO  THE  20TH  REGIMENT,  VS.  S.  COLORED  TROOPS  ON 
THE  OCCASION  OF  THK  PRESENTATION  OF  A  STAND  OF  COLORS 
DY    THE    LADIES,    MARCH   jTH,    1864. 

7»  the  Officers  and  Members  of  the  toth  United  States  Colored 
Troops  : 

Soldiers,  Wt .  the  mothers,  wives  and  sisters,  of  the  members 
of  the  New  York  Union  League  Club,  by  whose  liberality  and 
intelligent  patriotism,  and  under  whose  direct  auspices  you 
have  been  orftnniicd  info  a  body  of  National  troops  for  the  de- 
fense of  the  Union,  earnestly  sympathizing  in  the  great  cause 
of  American  free  nntionality,  and  desirous  of  testifying  by  some 
memorial,  our  profound  sense  of  the  sacred  object  t^nd  the 
holy  cause  in  behalf  of  which  you  have  enlisted,  have  prepared 
for  you  this  banner,  at  once  the  emblem  of  freedom  and  of 
faith,  and  the  symbol  of  woman's  best  wishes  and  prayers  for 
our  common  country,  and  especially  for  your  devotion  thereto. 

When  you  look  at  this  flag  and  rush  to  battle,  or  stand  at 
guard  beneath  its  sublime  motto,  "God  and  Liberty!"  re- 
member that  it  is  also  an  emblem  of  love  and  honor  from  the 
daughters  of  this  great  metropolis  to  her  brave  champions  in 
the  field,  and  that  they  will  anxiously  watch  your  career,  glory- 
ing in  your  heroism,  ministering  to  you  when  wounded  and 
ill,  and  honoring  your  martyrdom  with  benedictions  and  with 
tears. 

Mas.  J.  J.  ASTOR,  Mas.  E.  COLLINS, 

'•  .0.  W.  BLUNT.  '•  BRADISH. 

"  J.  W.  BEEKMAN,  "  BRUCE, 

"  S.  WETMORE,  "  TUCKERMAN, 

"  S.  B.  CHITTENDEN,  "  SHAW, 

•'  N.  D.  SMITH,  "  WILLIAMS. 

"  T.  M.  CHEESMAN,  "  P.  RICHARDS, 

"  H.  A.  COIT.  '  "  R.  WINTHROP, 

"  A.  P.  MAN,  "  WEEKS. 

"  J.  J.  PHELPS,  "  C.  C.  DODGE, 

"  G.  B.  D«  FOREST.  "  JOHN  JAY. 

"  Lt  G.  B.  CANNON.  "  E.  M.  YOUNG. 

"  W.  A.  BUTLER,  "  J.  S.  SCHULTi, 


1 88 


APPENDIX. 


Mtt.  U.  A.  MURDOCK, 

"  A.  DUNLAP, 

"  F.  E.  HOWE. 

"  W.  H.  LEE. 

"  W.  E.  DODGE.  ;»., 

"  DAVID  IIOADLY. 

••  C.  LUDINGTON, 

"  0.  LEMIST. 

'•  E.  C.  COWDIN. 

"  J.  A.  ROOSEVELT, 

"  J.  SAMPSON. 

"  R.  B.  MINTURN.  J«., 

"  ALFRED  PELL,  Jt., 

"  W.  HUTCHINS. 

•    ••  GEO.  OPDVKE. 

'•  0.  C.  WARD, 

"  C.  G.  JUDSON. 

•'  S.  W.  ROOSEVELT. 

••  E.  D.  SMITH, 

••  P.  S.  Van  RENSSELAER, 

•'  WALTER, 

"  H.  BALDWIN, 

'•  H.  G.  THOMSON. 

••  F.  C.  PENDEXTER, 

"  H.  C.  CHAPMAN, 

'•  G.  BANCROFT, 

"  M.  K,  JESUP, 

"  J.  C.  D,  DAVIH. 

•'  W,  H.  SCIMEFFBLIN, 

"  r.  B.  GODWIN. 

••  C.  BLISS.  J«.. 

"  S.  J.  BACON, 

'•  R.  B.  MINTURN, 

"  CHARLES  KING, 

•'  S.  W.  BRIDGHAM, 

'•  S.  GANDV, 

"  K.  L.  STUART, 

'•  E.  W.  STOUGHTON. 

"  J.  W.  BIGELOW. 

"  M.  O.  ROBERTS, 

'•  H.  K.  BOGART, 

••  E.  C,  HALL, 

"  J.  Lb  ROY, 


MRS.  J.  E.  BRENLV, 

"   i\.  CHAUNCEY, 

"    K.  M.  HUNT, 

"    JONES, 
Miu  ;.  SCHIEFFELIN. 

"    FISH. 

••    JAY. 

"     EMILY  BOERUM, 

"    NOKSWORTHY, 
Mtt.  W.  E.  DODGE. 

"    R.  STEHDINS. 

"    S.  B.  SCHIEFFELIN. 
Miss  KING, 
Mil.  J.  B.  JOHNSON, 

••    JAQUES. 
,  "    A.  BROOKS, 

"     W.  FELT, 

"    J.  W.  GODDARD, 

'•     F.  G.  SHAW. 

"     R.  G.  SHAW. 

■'    G.  B.  CURTISS. 

•■     R.  C.  LOWELL, 

••    C.  G.  KIRKLAND, 

'•    B.  Di  FOREST. 

"    BOERUM. 

"    HAMILTON  FISH, 

"    ALFRED  PELL, 

"    KENNnnV, 

'•    J,  J01INflT0>f, 

•'    T.  L.  DEEKMAN, 

■•    J.  F.  GRAY. 

••    J.  TUCKERMAN. 

•'     F.  A.  WHITTAKBR 

"    J.  H.  MACY. 

"     F.  H.  MACY. 

••    J.  McKAYE. 

"     W.  L.  FELT. 

••     T.  HASKELL, 

"     ISAAC  AMES. 

•'     L.  F.  WARNER. 

"    A.G.PHELPS, 

•'     N.  CHANDLER, 

■'     H.  POTTER, 


APPElfDIX. 


189 


MlB.  J.  BROWN. 
"    M.  CLARK30N,      . 
"    J.  O.  STONE. 
••    J.  G.  KING.  J«.. 
"    H.  Van  RENSSELAER, 
••    J.  A.  KING,  Jr.. 
"    J.  C.  CASSEGEE. 
"    J.  L.  KENNEDY. 
"    F.  PRIME. 
••     BARNWALL. 
••    WHEELWRIGHT, 

Mrs.  W. 


MiM  ANNA  JAY, 

"    YOUNG. 
"    SCHULTZ, 
"    RUSSELL. 
"    J.  M.  KING. 
"    COCHRANE. 
Mrs.  VINCENT  COLYER, 
•'    C.  C.  HUNT. 
•'    C.  WILLIAMS. 
"    E.  H.  CHAUNCEY. 
•'    E.  W.  CRUGER, 
C.  BRYANT. 


THANKSGIVING  DINNER. 

Cumraittee  on  the  Thanksgiving  Dinner  for  the  Soldiers  and 
Sailors.     Appointed  Nov.  3d,  1864. 

At  a  meeting  of  the  Union  League  Club,  held  Nov.  3d,  1864, 
George  Bliss,  Jr.,  called  the  attention  of  the  members  to  the 
fact  that  Mr.  George  W,  Blunt  had  suggested  through  the  news- 
papers the  propriety  of  a  movement  to  provide  a  Thanksgiving 
Dinner  for  the  Soldiers  and  Sailors,  and  moved  the  following 
resolution,  which  was  unanimously  adopted  ; 

"  Resolved,  That  •  committee  be  appointed  to  co-operate  in 
the  movement  for  providing  a  Thanksgiving  Dinner  for  Sol- 
diers and  Sailors  at  the  front." 

The  following  General  Committee  was  appointed  t 


Charles  H,  MAkiHALL, 
George  W.  Blunt, 
Stephen  Hyatt, 
Jackson  S.  Shultz, 
Parker  Handy, 
Livi  A.  DowLSY, 
Theodore  Roosbvilt, 
GtoROB  Buss,  Jr., 
Jonathan  Sturobs, 
Lb  Grand  B.  Cannon, 

WiLUAM   E.    DODOB, 

Horace  Grbxlrt, 
William  H.  Lbb, 
William  C.  Bbtamt, 


Rush  C.  Hawkins, 
Henry  J.  Raymond, 
A.  R.  Wetmore, 
W.  G.  Lambkrt. 
Stephen  Burkhaltbr, 
T.  R.  Butler, 
L.  Delmonico, 
Charles  A.  Stetson, 
Francis  Skiddy, 
Simeon  Draper, 
Timothy  Churchill, 
Thomas  H.  Fails, 
Gborob  C.  Wako, 
Thomas  Dals, 


19°  APPENDIX. 

W.  R.  VBRMiLn,  John  D.  Jonei, 

Fkancis  M.  Fmnch,  Edward  Walkh, 

Robert  Bliu,  John  E.  Wiluami, 

EztA  NvE,  James  Kelly, 

B.  B.  Sreeman,  Chaeles  Dennison. 
Chaelu  H.  Maeihall,  Cbalrmin. 
Tbiodou  Roosetclt,  Trau.,  G:u}ece  Bliss,  Jr.,  See. 

ExKCUTivB  Committee. 
Stbthen  Hvatt,  Jackson  S.  Schulti, 

Paekee  Handy,  Charles  H.  Marshall, 

TiMOTHT  G.   ChUECHILL,  ThEODOEE   RoOSEVELT, 

Lbti  a.  Dowlet,  Geoege  Bliss,  Jr., 

COMMITTEI   ON    BaNKS. 

Thomas  H.  Faiu,  Chaelu  H.  Maeshali, 

John  E.  Wiluams. 

Committee  on  Insurance  Companies. 
llMontT  G.  CRVEcmLL,  JoHH  D.  Jone*. 

Committee  on  Brokers. 
W.  R.  Veemilvi. 

Committee  on  Cooking. 

Jamm  Kbllt,  Chaeles  A.  Stbteow, 

L.  Delmonico. 

Committee  on  Packing. 
STmrasN    Hyatt. 

Committee  on  Drt  Goods. 
William  H.  Ub,  Roeeet  Buis. 

Committee  on  Booksellerb  and  Publishers. 
BowARO  Waiur,  Geoeoe  p.  Putnam. 


APPENDIX.  191 

CIVIL  SERVICE  REFORM. 


RESOLUTION    PASSED    BY    THE   EXECUTIVE   COMMITTEE 
or    THE  CLUB,  MAY,  1864. 

Resolved. — That  the  Executive  Committee  recommend  to 
the  general  meeting  of  the  Club,  that  committees  be  appointed 
for  the  purpose  of  obtaining  information  concerning  gaining 
the  support  of  the  public  for,  and  aiding  in  the  passage  of 
a  bill  just  introduced  into  the  Senate  of  the  United  Stales, 
known  as  the  "  Civil  Service  Bill,"  the  object  of  which  is  to 
provide  for  the  appointment  of  all  civil  officers  connected 
with  the  treasury,  post  office,  and  other  governmental  service, 
after  a  careful  examination  as  to  fitness ;  office  to  be  held 
during  good  behavior  with  prospect  of  promotion  ;  and  a  retir- 
ing pension  in  case  of  advanced  age  or  disability ;  and  that 
such  committee  be  instructed  to  correspond  with  the  Union 
League  Clubs  of  Boston  and  Philadelphia  for  the  purpose 
of  obtaining  their  codperation. 

ENUNCIATION  OF  REPUBLICAN  PRINCIPLES. 

:876. 

In  May,  1876,  the  Club  unamiously  adopted  a  series  of 
resolutions  embodying  the  following  principles  : 

I.  That  all  citizens  shall  be  equal  before  the  law,  and 
shall  be  protected  by  the  laws. 

II.  That  specie  payment,  and  gold  as  the  standard  of 
values,  shall  be  speedily  restored. 

III.  That  the  civil  service  shall  be  reformed,  and  on  these 
points,  at  least  both  the  resolutions  and  the  nominees  of  the 
approaching  Republican  National  Convention  shall  be  such 
as  to  leave   no  ground  either  of  doubt  or  distrust. 

Resolutions  were  also  passed  : 

I.  In  regard  to  corruption  in,  and  the  administration  of 
public  affairs. 


'9*  AfPBKDTX. 

II.  Against  the  exclusive  management  and  control  of 
local   affairs  by  an  organized   machinery  of  office-holders. 

III.  A  demand  that  independent  and  diaintercstcd  Re- 
publicans in  the  city  and  state  shall  be  fairly  represented 
in  the  election  of  delegates  about  to  be  chosen  to  the  Slate 
•nd  National    Conventions. 

IV.  The  sending  of  delegates  pledged  or  committed  be- 
forehand to  the  support  of  any  candidate,  is  a  gross  violation 
of  the  first  principles  of  Republican  institutions,  and  an  out- 
rage upon  the  rights  and  the  wishes  of  the  great  majority 
of  the  party.  •  •  •  We  insist  that  the  representation  of  the 
State  of  N'ew  York  in .  the  convention  shall  be  committed 
to  a  delegation  wholly  unpacked  and  unpledged,  who  shall 
be  untrammtlcd  and  free  to  choose  from  among  all  the  can- 
didates that  may  be  brought  before  the  coi  vention,  and  un- 
less this  can  be  conceded,  we  refuse  to  be  bound  by  its 
action. 

V.  That  desiring,  as  we  most  earnestly  do,  the  success 
of  the  Republican  parly  in  the  next  presidental  election,  and 
believing  that  the  best  interests  of  the  country  require  the 
election  by  that  party  of  a  Presidcr'  from  its  ranks,  we 
desire  promptly  and  explicitly  to  avow  our  conviction  that 
^uch  success  is  not  po^ible  unless  ihe  candidate  of  the 
Republican  party  be  a  man  who  is  not  only  identified  with 
Its  great  principles  and  possessed  by  a  proud  appreciation 
of  its  past  services,  and  who  will  be  recognired  by  the  com- 
mon judgement  of  the  country  as  fitted  by  ability  and  ex- 
perience in  public  affairs  for  the  responsibilities  of  his  high 
office,  but  also  a  man  who  has  no  connection,  direct  or  indi- 
rect, with  the  errors  and  abuses  which  have  brought  reproach 
upon  the  fair  name  of  Ihe  country  and  party,  who  it  above 
aiy  suspicion  of  sympathy  ox  association  with  those  who 
have  been  guilty  of  these  abuser,  and  whose  name  and  career 
•hall  be  in  themselves  a  guarantee  of  a  complete  renovation 
of  the  public  service,  o.  a  thorough  purging  of  official  abuses, 
and  of  an  administration  of  the  government  upon  principles 
of  honesty,  eronoray,  intelligence  and  fidelity  to  public  Iniit 


APPENDIX.  193 

In  our  judgment,  and,  we  believe,  in  that  of  all  unbiased 
and  reflecting  men,  the  exigencies  of  the  party,  as  well  as 
the  country,  at  this  time  demand  a  President  who  shall  be 
deservedly  recognised  as  a  Reformer  as  well  as  a  Republican 


SERVICES  OF  THE   CLUB  NOT  OF   RECORD. 

Besides  the  current  work  and  doings  of  the  Union  League 
Club,  as  narrated  in  the  foregoing  sketch,  there  was  much  that 
received  no  special  record.     The  following  are  examples  . 

Aid  extended  by  the  Club  to  Mr.  Chase,  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury  in  Mr.  Lincoln's  Cabinet,  in  placing  Government  loans. 

The  directors  of  banks  and  trust  companies  of  the  city  were 
largely  represented  in  the  Club,  a»id  frequently  meeting  at  the 
Club  Rooms  discussed  the  financial  policy  of  the  Government, 
and  its  means  of  raising  money  to  carry  on  the  war.  These 
conferences,  and  their  patriotism,  led  to  the  joint  action  of  the 
banks  and  the  Secretary  in  negotiating  the  Government  bonds, 
a  service  often  acknowledged  by  Mr.  Chase  himself. 

2d.  Assistance  in  transferring  the  capital  of  State  banks  un- 
der the  National  Bank  system. 

By  this  means  an  early  monetary  stringency  was  averted. 

3d.  The  establishment  of  the  Quartermaster's  Certificate 
system. 

This  plan  enabled  the  Government  to  easily  supply  and  keep 
the  army  in  the  field  uniformly  provided  with  stores  and  equip- 
ments, and  helped  bring  about  the  participation  of  the  small 
manufacturers  and  producers  throughout  the  country  in  the 
businesj  of  supplying  the  demands  and  necessities  of  the  Gov- 
ernment. This  was  accomplished  by  the  issue  of  certificates 
in  triplicate  from  the  Quartermaster's  Department  of  the  army, 
which  were  discounted  at  banks  or  held  as  collateral  security  to 
a  vast  amount  for  future  redemption  by  the  Government  Mr. 
George  Opdyke,  in  conjunction  with  other  members  of  the 
Club,  was  largely  instrumental  in  practiculariting  this  method 
of  transferring  credits. 


194  APPENDIX. 

<iih.  Confidential  relations  of  the  Club  with  the  Government 
at  Washington  during  the  war. 

Communications  of  importance  frequently  passed  between 
individual  members  and  committees  of  the  Club,  and  the  heads 
of  the  Uepa.-tmcnts.  This  was  notably  the  case  as  to  the  Sec- 
retary of  War  with  Mr.  Geo.  Bliss,  Jr.,  and  the  Secretary  of  the 
Navy  with  Mr.  George  W.  Illunt.  Hence  it  came  about  that 
the  dclibciate  recommendations  of  the  Club  were  held  in  high 
respect  at  Washington. 

5th.  Aid  to  the  fugitive  blacks  at  the  time  of  the  New  York 
riots  in  1863. 

Many  hundred  colored  families,  dciiwiled  of  their  homes 
•nd  household  goods  by  that  untoward  event,  were  succored 
and  sustained  by  the  Union  League  Club. 

Forty  thousand  dollars  were  raised,  and  an  office  opened  by 
a  committee  chosen  from  the  Club  for  this  purpose.  Subse- 
quently the  same  committee,  by  personal  endeavor,  succeeded 
in  collecting  from  the  city  more  than  $100,000,  as  damages  for 
losses  of  these  poor  people,  and  distributed  the  same  to  the 
sufferers  with  great  fidelity. 

6th.  Contingent  services  to  the  colored  regiments  in  the 
field. 

The  Union  League  Club  became  the  trustee  and  almoner  of 
the  colored  regiments  raised  by  it,  while  in  service  at  the  front. 
The  Club  received  and  paid  over  to  their  families  at  home 
their  bounty  and  pay  money.  This  was  done  through  commit- 
tees, and  no  mistake  or  delay  was  ever  complained  of.  Such 
was  the  confidence  between  the  Twentieth  and  Twenty-sixth 
regiments  and  the  Club  that  their  quartermasters  had  full  credit 
for  personal  supplies  in  New  York.  And  the  letters  and 
packages  of  these  regiments  received  free  transport,  through 
the  services  of  this  committee,  Mr.  Vincent  Colyer,  the  secre- 
tary, giving  personal  attention  to  this  matter. 

7lh.  Incidents  of  prejudice  and  hostility  to  negro  soldiers, 
•nd  the  sequel. 

After  the  recruiting  of  the  colored  troops  at  Riker's  Island, 
and  they  were  about  to  be  mustered  into  the  service,  applica- 


APPENDIX.  19s 

tion  was  made  for  a  military  band  with  which  to  march  the 
regiments  through  the  city.  Such  was  the  prejudice  and  feel- 
ings against  these  troops,  that  the  city  bands,  and  among  them 
the  Graffula  and  Dodworth's,  refused,  upon  the  plea  that  it 
would  be  a  degrading  service. 

The  committee  offered  to  place  two  hundred  white  Union 
Leaguers  between  them  and  the  black  patriots.  Still  they  re- 
fused. Whereupon  a  telegram  to  Washington  brought  over  the 
fine  army  band  from  Governor's  Island,  upon  the  order  of  Sec- 
retary Stanton,  to  perform  the  degrading  service. 

And  although  violence  had  been  threatened.  Col.  Bartram's 
prowess  and  fixed  ammunition  turned  the  march  into  an  ova- 
tion.   Thus  was  settled  the  vexed  question  of  "negro  soldiery." 

On  the  walls  of  the  Club  House  there  hangs  to-day  a  fine  oil 
painting  portraying  the  event. 

J.  S.  S. 

CLUB  HOUSES. 

The  first  Club  House  of  the  Union  League  Club  was  situated 
at  No.  »6  East  17th  Street,  fronting  on  Union  Square — the  old 
"Parrish  House,"  so  called — and  was  opened  May  nth,  1863. 

On  April  isf,  1868,  the  Club  moved  to  the  Jerome  Building, 
corner  of  Madison  Avenue  and  a6th  Street 

For  nearly  twelve  years  these  premises  have  been  occupied 
by  the  Club,  and  here  was  laid  the  wise  financial  policy  that 
has  made  a  new  Club  House  possible.  Of  Mr.  Edward 
Gleason  mention  should  be  made  for  his  long  and  eflficient 
services  here,  as  the  Superintendent  of  the  Club's  house-affairs, 
through  whose  careful  supervision,  thoughtful  economy,  and 
uniform  urbanity,  the  Club  has  profited,  and  members  derived 
much  enjoyment. 

The  New  Club  House  is  located  on  Fifth  Avepue  and  39th 
Street.  Its  site  and  structure  justify  the  expectation  of  high 
public  work  and  hospitality  in  the  Club's  future  policy. 


INDEX. 


Abstract  from  early  minutei  of  Clab 

Admissions,  first  Committee  on 

Address  lo   colored   troops 

Annual    duel 

Alabama  clalmi 

Approprlationi,  tecttrlan 

Appendix  .... 

Annjr   and    N'avy,   and    Patriots,    frecdora 

Art      . 

Association,    Freedmen's  Relief 

Association,    articles   of 

"  name   of 

"  ProtectlTC  War  Claim 

Binney,    Horace,    letter   of 
Boker,   Ceo.    H.   letter  of 
Building   Fund    . 
By-Laws,   amendment   to  (1868) 
(1873) 

"         ori^nal 

"         revision   of   (1879) 

Charter 

City  Goremment,  tesolation  in  regard  to 

Circular,  original 

Citizens'  Association 

CWil  Service   Reform 

CWil   Rights   Bill 

Committee,   building 

"  standing 

"  on  Tolunteering 

"  on  art 

"  on  obseqnies 

ConTsntlon,   Sonthem   Loyalist's 

"  Sute  Constitutional 

"  Syracnse 

CoBstltational  Amendmnt    . 


of  dnb  to 

60,  7J,  1*9,  ij$, 


SB.4B, 


.      40 

39.43 

187 

9S.  ISI 

112 

106, 117 

163 

59 

I4«.  ISI 

87.89 

37.  "65 

5» 

59 

18* 

182 
81,  131 

114 

138 

49,  168 

ISI 

166 

86.  91 

31 

91 

7S,  119,  191 

75.  89. 

«47 

43 

53 

73.87 

74 

89,99 

86, 91, 100 

8 


198  INDEX. 

Colored    Ptreoni,    trMlment   o( 
Colored    Regiment,    departure   of   JOlh 
a6lh 
jut 
Colored    troops    tddreu   10 

"  "         prt<enl*tion   of   flag   to 

"  recruiting  of 

"  (id  to  In  the  field 

Colfai,  Speaker,  letter   of    . 
Congrett,   memben   of,    freedom   of  elab   to 
Correspondence  in  regard  to  formation  of  Club 
Coficluiion  .... 

Club,  orij^n  of  ...  • 

"     Cortetpondence  leading  to  formation  of 
"    Qrganiiation  of  .... 

"    Kinancea  .  6},  81,  96,  lOI,  lOS,  lU.  1*0,  It6,  II8, 
"    Formalioo  of,   cause  of 
"    Incorporation  of  .  .  . 

"    HouK  removal 
"         "      Injury  to,  bjr  firf 
"    Houiei        .... 
"    HouM.  Fint     .... 

••      New 
"  Inauguration  of,  l(68,  addmi  at 

"    Opening  of.  1868 
"    Relation  of,  with  Government 

Dana,  Richard  H.,  letter  of 


Enlistment  In  the  Southern  Slalea 

Everett,  Eiiward,  death  of 

Executive  Committee,  Reporti  of        61,  66,  75,  84, 

11$.  l»o. 


Frauds,  Election,  1868 

Kenton  Gov.  letter  of       . 

Fessendcn,  lion.  W.  P..  reception  of 

Fiih.  Hon.  Hamilton,  addrets  of 

"Fifteenth  Amendment" 

Fire  Department 

Fonttr,  Hon.  William  E.,  reception  of 

Future  The,  of  the  Club 

Fund,  reterve  .  . 

Grant,  Gen.,  reception  of 

"  nomination  and  election  of 

Greeley,  Horace         .... 
Gibbi,  Wolcott,  correspondence  of 
Government  Loans,  placing  of 

Hancock,  MaJ.  G«n.,  reception  of 

Hayes,  Pres.  and  Mra.,  reception  to 

Health  Board  .... 

Houghton.  Lord,  reception   to 

Heapitality  to  OtKctra,  Army.  Navy  and  o<b«n 


87,88 

IM,  I 


6,<.  8A,  i()4 
54.  56 
57 
57 
187 
187 
.  $4-5$ 

.    11? 

.  .7-12 

l$8-l63 

$ 

.  II.  17,  *1 

3a,  165 

134.  141,  146 

177 

81,  166 

104,  146 

•33 

"95 

$3 

•47 

I.  177 

105 

I'M 

181 


95.  97 
IS,  1)4. 


.  68 
»3 

lOI.  IIJ. 
14*.  147 

IIO 

t8o 
94 
I5« 
lai 

.  86 

«3« 

•  75 

8j 

,  94.  «o6 

107 

101 

II.  17 

193 

67 
.   I4» 

90 
•  13) 

7« 


INDEX. 


tog 


Imigration,  refonii  In  .  . 

Incorporation,  act  of      .  .  . 

1»y,  Hon.  John,     address  of 
ay,  Hon.  John,  Minister  to  Auitria 
erome  building,  lease  of 
ohnston,  Prcs.,  impeachment  of 
•.idicary  election     . 

T^nd  bounties,  resolutions  In  regard  to 
Library  .... 

Lincoln,  Pres.,  funeral  of 
Loynl  Publication  Society    . 
Loyalists.  Southern 
Meeting,  first  to  organize 
Meeting,  first  nf  founders 
Members,  first  roll  of  . 

"         regular  election  of     . 

"         Honorary  . 
Metropolitan  Fair 

"  Museum  of  Art. 

Morgan,  Edwin  D.,  letter  of      . 
Municipal  Reform 


National  Leaeue,  Loyal              .            .            .                        •  .3* 

National  Bank  system           ......  '93 

Name  of  Club,  first  .                  .            .            .            .  -5* 

Necrology.      .       loi.  Io6,  IM,  JM,  tas.  !•;,  I«9i  131.  133.  '35>  ML  14^ 

Negro,  prcdjudice  acain«t          .            .            .            .            •  6a,  194 

New  Vork  at  beglniiing  of  war         .            ,            .            .            .  17* 

Noyei,  William  Curtii,  resolution!  of  r«tpeel  to            .           .  .73 


.        .  .  65 

g],  166 

176 

.     119 

lot,  104,  141 

107 
lag 

74 

60,  69,  96,  laS,  14a,  isi 

84-87 

•      59.90 

.      89 

36 

a? 

45 

45 

71.  74.  «75 

.      58 

141 

•     179 

85,  9a,  100,  104,  1 19 


Officers,  first  election  of 
Officers  for  1864 
Olmsted,  Fred.  Law,  letter*  of 
Orsaiilzation  of  Club,  first  meeting 
"        Committee  on 

Parrlsh  Building,  lease  of 

Prefatory 

Presidential  Election,  1B64 

1876    . 
Prealdents,  lUt  of 

PollcTof  Club,  1865 

1868 

1869 

"  1870 

1875 

"  1878 

1879  .     . 

Portraits  and  Busts,  presentation  01 
PoliliaU  Reform,  Committee  on 


50 

6a 

.  II,  17,  39 

36 

.    39 

•    53 

t 

.    66 

136 

174 

84 

"3 
115 

ia3 
13a 
'44 

«53.  «59.  >6» 

60,  73.  «o« 

9».  '»7 

119.  «36.  »38.  »4*. 


300 


INDEX. 


Qukrtennuter's  Certificate  mtem 
Quinqr,  Josiah,  resolution  of  respect  to 

Reception  lo  Oflicerk        . 

Recons'ruclion  policy  of  Congreti,  lymptthy  with 

Recniiting,  Second  Corpt 

Repudiation  .... 

Reception,  Ladiei 

"  "       origin  of 

Republican  Trinciplej,  Enunciation  of  . 
RInp  and  I'olilical  Corruption 
Riot,  New  York 
Roll  of  Honor,  Ladlet 
Rttolutloni  in  rrgifrd  to  Unlvrnal  Suffrae* 
on  ri»««agei  of  Civil  Kighli  DiTi , 
"         on  tnii|;riitlon 
"        on  Cliy  Government 
"        Univerul  Suffrage. 
"         Sympathy    with    recontlnictioa   policy 
Cfiril  kighti  Kill 
Reaolulioni  on  Election  p'raudt 

"         in  regard  lo  Club  Policy 
"         Civil  Service 

"         Republican  Principle!,  enunciation  of 
Sanitary   Cnmmiition,    the    United    State* 
Stanton,    Hon.    Edwin    M.,    death   of 
Slavery.    re»uln   of   abolition  of 
Seymour,  Gov.,  corretpondence  with 
Sherman,  John,  letter  of  .  .  . 

Sheridan,  Gen.,  reception  of 
5>trvice  of  the  Club  not  of  record 
Smith,  Goldwin,  breakfast  to 
Strong,  Geo.  T.,  lettera  of 
Soldier's  Rett. 
School,  Public,  question 
SuCTrage,    Equal         .... 

"        Universal       .... 
Schura,  Hon.  Carl,  reception  of 

Thanksgiving  dinner,  Committees  on 
Treasurer,  first  appointed 
Trustees  of  Building  Fund 
Thompvjn,  Rev.  J.  P.,  addreu  of. 
"  Thirteenth  Amendment  "  Committee  oa 

"Unconditional  Loyalty"  .... 

Union  League  Club,  Philadelphia    . 

Volanteering,  Committee  o«        .  ... 

Wadsworlh,  Gen.,  honors  to  remains  of 
WInalow,  Capt.,  reception  of 
White,  Pre*,     address  of  . 

Woci  of  lh«  Club  dbring  the  war 

"        ta  Sute.  Mioldpd,  and  Ntlkmal  Reform 


«93 

73 


v^ 


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